


I'll find out

by Stuum



Category: Apex Legends (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Gay Character, Canon Non-Binary Character, Character Death, Depression, Eventual Romance, F/F, First Dates, First Kiss, How Do I Tag, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Torture, Lesbian Character, Needles, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, References to Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Suicide Attempt, Useless Lesbians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-29
Updated: 2020-09-22
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:34:37
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 72,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21606883
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Stuum/pseuds/Stuum
Summary: Wraith never stopped chasing after the answers she seeks. She signed a contract with the Syndicate to join the Apex Games to stay near the IMC Detention Facility, but with Season three coming in and moving all the legends out of planet Solace, she's only furthering herself from finding her past. Until, once she properly saw Natalie up close since the defender was her new teammate this season, things begin to spark up and even change the ruthless skirmisher.
Relationships: Wattson | Natalie Paquette/Wraith | Renee Blasey
Comments: 16
Kudos: 134





	1. Usual day

**Author's Note:**

> First fic, I don't know how to tag, yikes. This fic will be SUPER long, so I know I'm going to have to add new tags in. But if there's any tags I missed, please let me know, I don't know what I'm doing yet. I blame Sketchhungry for getting me into this ship lmfao, g o d. Hope they see this and draw more art about this dynamic duo, or another artist I can't remember the name of, sorry. Chapters 1-4 is a work in progress, I may go back to them to edit some things eventually. I wanted to wait until I finished the fic to post it in one day, but it's coming up slow with how long it is so I've decided to post just the chapters I have right now. Enjoy!
> 
> ~~~ : end of chapter  
> . . . : same day, different POV/hour skip  
> Slanted text with no " : voices talking  
> Slanted text with " : thoughts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 6 minutes

Ajay was finishing up some final touches on a few bruises here and there on a few legends, the last one being Wraith. Wraith being injured wasn't surprising, with the skirmisher often picking on fights against other groups in the Apex Games. Though Wraith being severely bruised was something unexpected for Ajay, in fact, Wraith lost the last two Apex Games. The skirmisher has been rather distracted lately, or, lost her magic to say the least. No one has dared question it, but every legend has noticed that Wraith hasn't given it her all the past two games.

Ajay gently smoothed over the bandages wrapped around Wraith's shoulder and stood up from the stool. "All better now."

The skirmisher sighed and stood up, looking over at her left shoulder.

"Thanks," she muttered.

"You're welcome," Ajay said with a smile and a wink, putting all the tools and bandages back in their place.

Wraith left the infirmary, heading back to her room, her head hung low. She was always lost in her thoughts, she kept replaying a specific image, however. It was Wattson, they were in the midst of battle when Wraith was caught by surprise from another squad after they had just finished one off. She was low on shield cells and ammo, and she couldn't loot the death boxes from the previous squad her team has defeated. Wattson saw Wraith's low shield through the HUD, and put her Pylon down so Wraith can regenerate. Wattson then crouched beside Wraith, hiding behind some boxes, and smiled at her. Wattson looked in her inventory and gave two shield batteries to Wraith.

"Here you go, _chérie_!" All with a warm smile.

It was the first time Wattson was her teammate, and it was also the first time Wraith has seen such a...

Wraith fought off a smile. She gets like this everytime she thinks of Natalie. It was... odd. She couldn't understand any of it, what she was feeling, how she's acting. And what's more, how much it affected her afterward. Wraith couldn't focus no matter how hard she tried, missing the last winning shots her team needed at that game. It wasn't as bad as the last match, she should have won easily against two people. The game had just started and her landing was infiltrated by another team. Luckily she picked up a weapon first, and the other two was defenseless with no body shield, except... when Wraith pulled the trigger, she missed most of her shots. She was defeated easily by Octane and Bangalore in a fist fight, it was quite embarrassing.

The memory made Wraith cringe, she clenched her teeth and shook her head. She made it into her room and lied down on her bed, hoping to sleep off the rest of the day to make it go by quicker. But as things usually goes, her mind was filled with endless complaining from the other Wraiths.

_You need to focus!_

_Be in a different team!_

_You're not accomplishing anything by lying around!_

Wraith could only sigh as she couldn't block off the voices.

Eventually, the voices dimmed down, but they never halted. Wraith found a bit of peace for once, taking advantage of the low volume of voices to rest for a bit. Even if it was just as short as an hour, it was something Wraith needed. She doesn't get much sleep because of the voices, and it doesn't help that the memories of the last two games keeps replaying in her head.

Wraith rested for about an hour and a half, before being woken up by the voices.

_Get up._

There was two knocks on the door, and a familiar voice that made Wraith's heart aflutter.

" _Chérie?_ You didn't come down for lunch with all of us. Are you okay in there?"

Wraith grabbed her pillow and put it over her head, hoping it would muffle Wattson's voice on the other side of the door.

There was another knock, and a more worried tone. "You haven't came down to eat for an entire day now, could you please open the door?"

_Don't open the door._

"Shut up," Wraith muttered. She sat up from the bed and made her way over to the door, turning on the knob to be greeted with Natalie, holding a plate with food.

Natalie hesitated, but her lips curved upward as she held up the plate. "Here," she says. "You like this, no? It's all they're serving for today."

It was just a plain burger, it wasn't the best food served in the ship, but Wraith hasn't realized how hungry she was until she saw it.

"It's...," Wraith tried her best to be normal, grabbing the plate. "Okay."

Wattson's hands went back to how they're normally held, cupped together, down to Natalie's thighs. "Is there anything else you need? Any help? You got hurt bad last match... you've been an awful lot distant than you normally are."

_Tell her she's distracting._

"I'm fine, thanks for looking out for me."

"Ah," Natalie rubbed her right arm. "Right. Of course. If you say so. I'll uh." She stopped, her face looked a little disappointed, but then a smile came up, making Wraith's chest feel weird again. "I'll be at my room if you ever need me."

Wraith watched as Natalie took the stairway up, where her room was located. She looked down at her plate, the burger being plated horribly, not looking appetizing at all. Wraith lifted up the top bun, curious to see what ingredients the kitchen staff used this time.

Wraith grunted, "pickles..."

Natalie was just trying to help her, and Wraith, being one of the few mysterious legends in the ship, has never shared her likes or dislikes. Most of the legends just assume Wraith dislikes everything due to her mood and outward appearance. Of course some of the legends just joke about it, Wraith can't help but think that they're serious. She doesn't have an answer for them, on her likes or dislikes, as she's still finding them out. Wraith didn't want to go through the hassle of going down to the second floor to get a new burger without pickles, she really didn't want to bump into Elliott, or worse, Octavio. She also feels bad about the thought of replacing something someone had brought her.

_You really are weak._

Wraith sighed, finally closing her door and taking the pickles out of the burger.

She eyes the burger again, a little closer this time. "Maybe I am."

Wraith walks towards her living room table and sits on the couch, setting the plate down on the table. "But in this life, I will uncover who I am."

She knows how her power works, everytime she walks into the void, Wraith sees her other selves in a different universe of the same timeline. Each Wraith has their own different decision, outcome, future. If one Wraith fails or makes a mistake, every other Wraith knows that future, and averts it. This is what makes Wraith an incredibly skilled fighter in the Apex Games, as there are billions of Wraiths doing different things than her, going to different locations, fighting differently, and however they win or lose, their knowledge is transferred back to the original. The entire definition of Wraith's power is too complicated, even for herself, but she understands the basics of it. Despite all of that, all that she's done and will be doing, no other Wraiths know her real name.

She finishes off the last bite of her burger, brushing her palms against each other to clean off. It wasn't enough to satisfy her hunger, but it was enough for her stomach to stop being in pain. She could rest easier, if she could, that is. It was far too early, but the day was dull and each hour feels like an eternity. The gray skies and the quietness of the ship didn't make it any better either, there was nothing to do for today. Wraith supposed she could go to the training area to target practice since her aim has dropped tremendously, but the idea roaming in her head quickly phased out. For once, just for today, she really didn't feel like doing anything. It isn't like her to be this way, Wraith knows this, she's noticed as well as everyone else. She really has changed, but Wraith couldn't understand why.

Wraith lies back down on the bed, closing her eyes, the back of her right hand resting on her forehead, the voices being silent for once. If she was lucky, neither Natalie or Elliott would bother her for the rest of the day. Wraith felt tired for once, her eyelids feeling heavy. She took a deep breath, the overwhelming weight of stress on her shoulders lifting off her. Wraith felt lighter, she felt better, the drowsiness kicking in heavier than ever. Within the next few seconds, she falls asleep, a deep, long slumber. The best slumber she's ever had in years, and one that she really needed.

~~~


	2. Alone

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 10 minutes

The next Apex Games was coming in a few days, Wraith wasn't too worried. Her streak was hurting, but the chances of her losing again was unlikely. She rolled to the side, unplugging the alarm clock before the first alarm rang. Wraith rested nicely this morning, she was a lot more energized than she has ever been. She laid there, listening to the loud air conditioner, wondering, and then, her mind went at it again. That one image she keeps thinking about. Natalie's smile, two games ago, when she put down her pylon and gave Wraith some shields. It has always made Wraith feel weird ever since, but the feeling itself felt good.

Sitting up, Wraith smacked her cheeks to fully wake herself up, getting the image out of the way. Her cheeks felt funny, she couldn't control it, it was hard keeping... whatever is happening in. Wraith headed over to her bathroom to brush her teeth, she suppose she could go to the firing range today to get some practice with her aim but she really didn't want to have a fist fight with Anita. And as much as Wraith could refuse Anita's invitation to a duel, Anita doesn't take no for an answer.

It was around 7:40am, Wraith was tying up a messy bun, as always. A bit of a sloppy work as she still isn't good at it, the toothbrush still hanging inside her mouth. She multi-tasked, brushing her teeth as she rummaged through her pile of clothes on the floor looking for her scarf. No matter what Wraith wears, she always has her scarf with her, even if it looks terrible. Her mouth was full of toothpaste and spit, she went back to the bathroom to spit on the sink and wash her mouth off, getting close to the mirror to inspect between her teeth. Nodding when her mouth looked freshly clean, she puts her toothbrush back in place, going back to the pile of clothes to find her scarf. It was under a top she wore when she lost the last Apex Games, when she was taking it easy. She dusted off the scarf before wrapping it around her neck, feeling safer now that a vulnerable part of her body is covered.

Wraith's stomach grumbled, she wondered if Natalie was going to bother her giving her food from the cafeteria. But then again, Wraith has never been awoken by another legend in the morning for food- especially Natalie. She really hated eating around them, more of Elliott, who loved the sound of his own voice. She didn't mind most of the legends, but the loud ones really ruin her morning. Wraith knows she can just bring her tray back up to her room, but the last few times she did that, she was stopped by Anita every time, who, really likes chatting with her. She knows Anita is just trying to be friends but their relationship is more like a rival-friend deal, Anita really respects Wraith for being a good opponent. Wraith decided to just forget it and watch some tv, hopping onto the couch and turning the tv on with a quick flick of the remote. She switches up to her favorite channel before throwing the remote to the other end of the couch, sliding down the pillow and landing between the crack. The show that was currently on was a comedy show, one that Wraith didn't care about but watched anyways.

She lounged, her waist past the couch and her neck sinking at the bottom of the seat. It was very bad for her back but she was comfortable, though the scarf was in the way. She switched position, moving more to the side, one leg up on the arm of the couch, still slouching, her head on the middle seat, looking sideways towards the tv. The scarf wasn't in the way anymore, it was more of a thin, flat pillow now. The show was on break now, the commercials rolling in, products, food, family-friendly, clothing. Wraith wondered why she sees the same thing over and over on most of the channels she watches. She can't understand why a show has to stop to show all these, it would be the same if it was all shown when a show is done.

Her stomach rumbled again, this time with a bit of pain. She checked up on the clock onto the tv, it was barely past 8am, everyone should be eating right now. She reached for the remote above her head, her hand wondering around unable to find it. Wraith grumbles, sitting up again just to find the damn TV remote. It was in the crack of the seat, beside the arm, behind the pillow. Wraith took it and put a channel of cartoons, hoping that her favorite show was on. Wraith loves the coyote and the bird, and the cat and the mouse. They were silly cartoons for someone of her age, however old she is, but she enjoyed them nonetheless. Though, Wraith would be embarrassed if anyone found out. She feels a sort of guilt within her, anxious that someone will see her watching cartoons, but Wraith knows she's safe.

" _Chérie_?"

Natalie's voice caught Wraith off guard, she immediately changed the channel even though it was useless as Natalie couldn't see it. Her heart rose up, almost like if it shot outside of her chest. It felt nice, and Wraith couldn't control it. She doesn't understand, what _is_ this feeling?

Natalie knocked on the door again. "Are you awake? I brought you something."

Wraith's legs felt weak, shaky, what for? What was she afraid about? No, not fear, she knows this isn't fear. Nervousness? Maybe.

Natalie knocked again. "If you're awake, please open the door..."

Wraith stood up, making her way to the door. The closer she got to it, the more nervous she became. What is going on with her? Her hand hesitated on the doorknob, and when it did, her hand also felt like it wanted to open the door immediately. She couldn't understand why she was having thoughts of running to the door and swinging it open, rather than just taking her time. She shook her head, her hand in a fist now, trying to stay normal. She unlocks the door, the hatch making a loud sound that lets Natalie know she isn't being ignored. When Wraith saw an inch of Nat's skin her heart began to go crazy again. Her cheeks feeling funny, her body feeling more nervous than ever. When she saw Nat's whole face, her breath was taken away.

"I've decided to just start bringing you food every day, is that okay?" Nat asks.

Wraith opened her mouth, the words she's looking for failing to come up. She couldn't help it, the sight of Natalie was too cute, especially her bangs, which Wraith adored. It fit Natalie perfectly, even the scar, especially the scar, though a bad thing that anyone would hate to have, makes Natalie look even more attractive.

"U-um," Wraith stuttered, still lost in Natalie's face, trying to remember what Natalie just said.

_You're staring_

Wraith looked down, tucking her scarf over her nose, her hands clenched in a fist, applying a lot of pressure trying to keep normal. Why is she acting like this? How can she stop it? Why can't she control it? Too many questions were swimming in Wraith's head, she had to reply to Natalie, who's still waiting.

"Yes," she said.

Natalie smiled, a smile that rattled Wraith's heart again, making her whole body feel weak. "Really? Great! I actually made this one myself in my own dorm, I felt like cooking today. If you don't want it, you don't have to accept it."

Wraith really couldn't remember what Natalie said before and now she's into something she can't back out of, or, at least _thinks_ she can't back out of. Natalie held up a tray towards her, it was a thick sandwich, it looked very appetizing. She takes the tray, the tray feeling heavier than she thought.

"It looks delicious," Wraith replied honestly.

Natalie winced, "oh, ah... Looks don't always agree on taste... do let me know if you liked it or not, I'll be sure to make something else for lunch. Though, I hope you would... rather join me in lunch today? We'll sit on a seperate table from the other legends, if you prefer."

Wraith looked up at Nat, who was staring at the wall just next to Wraith. She could clearly see Nat's cheek look a fair pink. She wore a nervous smile on her face, her hands locked together down to her thighs.

Wraith smiled, "sure, I'll join you."

The hint of red on Nat's cheeks grew a bit darker, Natalie beaming with joy now. "Rea- I mean, uh, great! Good! I...," Natalie trailed off, becoming more awkward by the second. "I'll see you then _chérie_!" She said with a wink and a smile.

The amount of alarms Nat had set off inside of Wraith, Wraith couldn't help but find Natalie so adorable. Wraith was also incredibly happy, despite her facial muscles not moving, she knew she was happy. But for what reason, was her question. Everything that has something to do with Nat sets Wraith's heart in motion, she's noticed that now. Wraith still couldn't understand any of it, and why she enjoys seeing Nat so much. The younger blonde was in fact very cute and super friendly, she is also incredibly kind and funny sometimes. Wraith admits that Natalie's corny jokes did make her chuckle on the inside... though, some- Natalie's jokes earns more sighs than actual laughs. That doesn't stop the blonde from continuing, which Wraith silently appreciates, as it would be weird for Natalie to stop.

Wraith, once again, watched Natalie walk up the stairs where her dorm was located. Her own cheeks burning for an unknown reason Wraith has yet to uncover. She knew there was a word for what she's feeling, her head just couldn't grasp it. This weird feeling in her chest... the repeated thoughts of Nat's beautiful warm smile... The thought of Nat's smile and the sight of her backside made Wraith's whole face burn. Wraith immediately closed her door and set the tray down on a nearby counter, going over to her bathroom to check up on her face on the mirror. Her entire face was red, god if any other legend saw her like this they'd think she was sick. Wraith has pale skin, the reddish tone she currently has slowly faded away, her face no longer warm. Of course, Wraith wondered what that was about. Embarrassment? No, no. Wraith isn't embarrassed about anything, and even if she was, her face wouldn't be red and warm and her heart wouldn't skip around.

Wraith smacked her cheeks with her palms.

"Get it together," she sighs. Heading back to the counter to eat, her stomach still grumbling. Wraith takes the tray over to the couch, the TV playing a news channel.

"-ported a call from a witness, claiming they-." Wraith changed the channel, going back to the cartoons. She takes the thick sandwich on one hand, looking at it at every angle. Her stomach rumbled louder at the sight of all the ingredients inside. Wraith took a bite, her mouth exploding with different kinds of flavor. What was Natalie on about? Looks don't agree on taste? This is by far the best food Wraith has ever ate, as such, she gobbled up the sandwich like a hungry wolf. Her stomach was no longer in pain, the sandwich wasn't filling, but it was enough to satisfy her, she liked it a lot. Wraith will be sure to let Natalie know how she thought of it. Actually, Wraith is hoping to eat more of her food, since the food served by the cafeteria staff isn't very good...

Wraith checked up on the clock, it was hardly past 8:30am, why is time going so slow this week? It feels like Wraith has been awake for hours.

"Another dull day...," setting the tray down on the table in front of her, she looks up at her ceiling, both back hands over her eyes. She listens to the voices for once, trying to listen to all of them, each Wraiths having their own say on her lounging. Some are angry on why she isn't seeking answers, others are speaking about the slow day, and some... are commenting about Natalie's smile. Those Wraiths seems to be stuck with her as well, with Natalie's addicting smile that burned into her brain. Wraith was imagining that scenario again, the game was almost ending with two other squads left. Bloodhound was looking towards a building with their sniper scope, the enemies last known location. Wraith's bodyshield wasn't fully repaired as the skirmisher didn't have shield cells. Wattson slid through, hiding behind a box with her to set her pylon down. Looking into her inventory, she dropped a few shields for Wraith, and gave the skirmisher a smile. They were close to one another, Wraith staring at Wattson's features up-close for once. She never really realized how beautiful Natalie was, and that's when she changed.

"Here you go, _chérie!_ "

That sentence ringed from ear to ear everytime Wraith thought about it. She kept thinking back on that smile throughout the rest of the match and it distracted her. For the last squad, Wraith failed to listen to the voices as they were telling her that she was being targeted by a sniper. The sniper shot at her, taking away a good chunk of her shield. As she was repairing, Bloodhound went down after taking someone out. Wattson finished the knocked enemy out and put another opponent down. The last remaining enemy was still alive, and he shot Wattson with a Kraber, an immediate down. Wraith went to revive as Pathfinder was too far, but as she was almost done, she heard a zipline being used. Wraith immediately stopped and turned around, both final legends blazing bullets at each other. It should've been an easy victory as the skirmisher is an incredibly skilled fighter, but Wraith somehow missed all her shots and she went down. It was wrong to her at the time, something no one else will feel or know, but Wraith... she couldn't understand why she couldn't concentrate. She was scared, anxious, sweating, and she couldn't understand why.

"Is this...?"

No, she knows there's a word for this. What was it again? Wraith opened her eyes, clenching her bangs.

"God, what was the word. I know it!"

But is the word truly what she's feeling? Is the word the real culprit to her sudden change? Or is this some new mental issue? Perhaps even a physical issue, or emotional. A late side effect from the drugs the doctors and scientists gave her years ago, maybe. Wraith knew that was a stupid idea, no side effect would be reacting now. Is telling anyone about this even a good idea? Is Wraith willing to expose vulnerability just to know the answer of her changes?

Wraith switched the television off, heading back to bed. It was far too early and time was going slow, she wanted the day to end faster. Her body was already tired for no reason, and she had no motivation to do anything. Wraith dragged herself and slipped under her sheets, shutting her eyes to quicken the day. The voices were surprisingly very quiet since yesterday, a rare yet appreciated treat for Wraith, it was nice. And with that, she listened to the calm engine of the ship, the low rumbling sound being gentle. It was annoying at first but eventually Wraith used it to soothe her nights and help her sleep when the voices were harsh on her. She let herself go, her own body feeling it has lost some weight. Wraith felt relaxed, she found the silence pleasing.

. . .


	3. Feelings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 15 minutes

"And right then and there, she dumped her drink on me! Right AFTER I saved her! I was so confused, what triggered her to do that to me?" Elliott was clearly frustrated, he looked around the room to seek an answer from the other legends.

Makoa was thinking, his hand holding onto his chin. Ajay was shaking her head, lost in thought too. Anita was throwing a bullet up in the air, catching it as it came down.

"Honestly," Anita breaks the silence. "I think she's just a bitch. She had no real reason to do that after what you did."

"Exactly!" Elliot threw his arms apart, both hands hitting the side of his legs.

"Yeahh, I mean, you saved her from being drugged by the man who sat next to her but I think she mistook you as the guy who slipped the drug in her drink," Ajay went back to digging her nails with her nails.

"Wait, what?" Elliot looked over at Ajay, then turning to Makoa when he speaks.

"Ye brotha, as you were telling her about the drink being drugged by the other guy, she might've thought you were false accusing him just so you wouldn't seem suspicious."

"But that's ridiculous! I was talking to her! We were facing each other the entire time!" Elliott was fuming at this point.

"If I was there myself I wouldn't be sure who put what onto my drink. Turning away for a second is enough time to slip a drug in a drink. But I still wouldnt dump my drink over a guys head if I don't know who did it, like I said, she's a bitch," Anita repeated, still catching the bullet.

Elliott scoffed, "why do I always get bad luck with woman..."

"You seem to have better luck with men," Ajay chuckled. "Not a bad thing either, I know a few guys who would love to have a date with you."

Elliott put a finger up to Ajay, "I came here for the ladies-"

"How's that going for you?" Anita interrupted, laughing.

Makoa laughed too.

"Whatever, I'm having a drink," Elliott grumbled. The laughter of the group grew louder.

"Maybe they're right."

"Huh?" Elliott sat down on a stool.

"Having better luck with men," Crypto mumbled.

"Come again?"

Crypto smirked, "nothing."

Elliott stared at him, the alcohol being placed in front of him as the staff already knows what he likes. "Did you also say I have better luck with men?"

"Did I?"

Elliott sighed, knowing Crypto loves his secrets. He takes a drink and slams the glass down, raising a finger up for another. He looks around the room, every legend is here except for three. Blothhundr was sitting next to a window sharpening their knife. Ajay, Makoa, and Anita was sitting together as a group, just chatting. Octavio was playing video games, Crypto was at the bar. Pathfinder was with Blothhundr's raven, Artur. The three legends who weren't to be seen was Alexander, Natalie, and of course, Wraith. Alexander was always cooped up in his own private lab concoctioning up more scary toxic gasses, everyone knows better than to open up his lab door without a gas mask. Natalie is a sweet girl who isn't ignoring the other legends, she just always loses track of time in her work of fixing her pylon, making the ring stronger, or other nerdy stuff Elliott can't understand.

And then buddy ole' Wraith, his best friend, or at least, he thinks they're friends. When Elliott first entered the Apex games for the ladies, he immediately fell head over heels for Wraith. She was just a ruthless and mysterious hot chick that Elliott couldn't resist. But, as he made his moves on her, the skirmisher declined everytime and even threatened to kill him if he kept going. Overtime, the feelings drifted off, and their relationship built up eventually, with Elliott finally understanding Wraith just two months ago. Elliott couldn't imagine Wraith as a girlfriend or a one night stand. He prefers her as a friend, whether or not they are or not, he actually isn't sure if the skirmisher still hates him. He knows that the skirmisher still finds him incredibly annoying, but that isn't a reason to be cooped up in her room. Wraith is known to be in two different locations:

Her room.  
And the firing range.

But lately Wraith has been more distant not just to him, but to everyone else as well. Elliott thinks it has to do with the recent two losses of the Apex Games, which he finds suspicious. Well, everyone finds it suspicious that Wraith lost. But losing twice in a row? Does Elliott even know Wraith anymore? He takes another shot and pushes the glass away, putting the money down at the table. He jogs his way up to Wraith's room, where he believes the skirmisher is still inside. He knocked loudly hoping to get her attention.

"Buddy ole' Wraithy, time to wake up, you can't stay in there forever."

They were friends, he believes in that, even if it was one-sided, they were friends. Really only four people ever bother Wraith to get out of her room, trying to help her. Elliott is just worried sometimes that Wraith could be sick or something. Honestly Elliott believes he's the only legend who constantly bothers Wraith to get out of her room, he does it about two or three times a week. He hasn't seen her for breakfast, but then again, he never sees Wraith for breakfast. He used to, months ago, but the skirmisher stopped coming. Just like how Wraith stopped coming to pick up lunch or get some dinner. Though he knows Natalie has been checking up on Wraith now, the younger blonde beginning to get worried now. Natalie couldn't get Wraith out of her thoughts yesterday, poor defender is just looking out for her friends.

"Yoohoo, anybody home?" Elliott tries again.

There was a muffled hiss, "go away Witt."

"Oh, so you are cooped up in there again. Listen uh- you've been doing this for two weeks now, it's past noon y'know. Maybe it'd be a good idea if you, oh I don't know, came out to greet us once in a while?"

"Go away Witt."

Elliott shook his head. "Uh- Blothhundr wants to speak to you."

"Don't care."

Elliott scratched the back of his neck. "Ajay wants you in the infirmary for a check up on the bruises."

"I'm fine."

" _Shit_ ," Elliott whispered. "Um, Anita wants to spar with you within an hour."

"No she doesn't."

"Uhh- Natalie is here with me and she wants to see you?"

There was a thunk and an object falling down on the ground, making a loud noise. Elliott heard footsteps coming towards the locked door. The hatch made a click sound and the door swung open, Wraith appearing before him. She looked around him, then being disappointed and angry that Elliott lied to her.

"I hate you."

"Waitwaitwait!" Elliott stopped Wraith from closing the door at his face by putting his foot down. "I could get Natalie for you! Look, I'm sorry I lied to you but I was just making up some reasons for you to get out of your room."

"Elliott-"

"Look at yourself," Elliott motioned his hand towards Wraith's face. "Your face looks paler than usual and your hair is a lot more messier than your usual messy hair."

Well, truth be told, Wraith always looked like that. The words just came right out of his mouth, he felt stupid but he did have a point. Wraith did look a little sickly, even if it was hard to tell, he could see the difference.

"I could care less about my appearance," Wraith sighed.

"And that's okay," Elliott smiled, putting a finger up. "But, what's not okay is you locking yourself in here for several days. Seriously, when's the last time you've eaten? Is there any real reason you've shut yourself in now? Is it the losses?"

"I don't have to answer to you," Wraith crossed her arms.

"Right. I could like, get Nat for you if you prefer to speak with her. I just want you to be at your best, like I'm worried about the sudden drop of your performance in the games, I mean, we all are. But now you stopped coming around to eat? Shutting yourself in here? Think about it, what are you achieving this way?"

Wraith pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

"You don't have to answer me, just letting you know to look around you. I'll go get Natalie for you so you're comfortable to talk to somebody," Elliott removed his foot from the doorway.

"I...," Wraith began, making Elliott stop in his tracks to look back at her. Wraith shook her head, "never mind."

Elliott knew better than to ask something Wraith doesn't want to talk about. He nodded, going up the stairs to fetch Natalie.

Wraith fumbled with her bangs, she wanted to ask Elliott about what's wrong with her, why she's changed, why she's different around Natalie. But she didn't want to seem weak for exposing herself, she also felt like it would be a bad idea. If there was anyone she should talk to this about, it was Natalie. Right? But Wraith wasn't sure if she could straight up ask Natalie about the weird feelings. In fact, Wraith thinks she might weird Natalie out. Fuck, and now Elliott is bringing her over to talk. Wraith wanted to shut her door and stay inside her room for the rest of the day, but Natalie was already coming down the stairs. Her smile beaming as she saw Wraith at the doorway, Wraith couldn't help but stare like an idiot.

"Have fun you two!" Elliott winked towards Wraith, then moved his mouth and said something in silence behind Natalie's back but Wraith wasn't sure what he was trying to say.

"I'm so sorry, we planned to get some lunch today but I lost track of time on my own work," Natalie sighed.

"O-oh! I... also forgot about that. Sorry."

Nat chuckled, "we're both forgetful, huh? No worries! We're only an hour off. Elliott said you wanted to speak to me? Would you like to chat over some lunch? I'll be cooking again!"

"Um-"

"Oh, did you... enjoy the sandwich? It wasn't the best and it honestly could've been made better but I'm no chef. I'm sure it was a bit off too, I'll be sure to make something better this time," Nat scratched her right cheek with her right index finger, a nervous act.

"Actually, I loved it. It was good," Wraith smiled. "I'm looking forward to what you make next."

Nat wore a nervous smile now, "you must have weird taste buds _chérie_...."

Wraith cocked her head in confusion, raising an eyebrow. Natalie moved on, leading Wraith up the stairs. "Come on, let's talk about what's bothering you."

"W-wait!" Wraith pulled her wrist away from Natalie's grasp, somewhat regretful on how hard she pulled it away. "Your room?"

"...yes?"

"Wouldn't... what would the others think if they catch me in your dorm?"

Natalie's face burnt up quickly. "Oh! I haven't really thought about it that far... yeah, uh, they'll get a weird idea." Nat smoothed out her bangs and played with it, another nervous act. "Well, everyone seems to be in the lobby so... I ask that you don't tell anyone that I let you into my dorm and that I'm cooking for you."

Wraith nodded, "my lips are sealed."

Natalie smiled. "Wonderful! Now come on! I'm excited to cook!"

Wraith chuckled at Natalie's childish excitement. Is cooking a fun activity? Is cooking really worth the time and effort? To Wraith, cooking doesn't sound like a hobby, it sounds more like a chore. But maybe it was different for Nat, maybe Nat enjoys the feedback from other people, or maybe she just simply liked cooking.

Natalie unlocked her door with a PIN code, and as the door opened up sideways, Wraith saw the overwhelming mess of Natalie's room. And Wraith thought her room was bad, Natalie beats hers by a mile. Papers of graphs, math equations, and other nerdy stuff was scattered all throughout the floor, the couch, table, bed. Hell, some papers were taped onto the walls.

"It's a bit of a mess-"

"A bit?"

"It's a bit of a mess," Nat repeated. "But uh," she began again, pushing papers off the table where they slowly fell on the ground. "Nothing too bothersome when you push them aside."

It was absolutely impossible to walk around without stepping onto Natalie's papers of what could be important to her. Natalie noticed Wraith's struggle to avoid stepping in any of them to not leave a boot print. "Oh, you can walk on them _chérie_ , all these papers are old and useless."

A relief for Wraith and her short legs.

"I don't like cleaning, sorry. I never have time for it, I'm always working on some very important projects."

"It's fine, I'm not a clean person myself either," Wraith sat down on a chair, her arms resting on the table.

Natalie pulled some pots and pans out, looking for the right size. After picking up a pan, she set it onto the stove, and looked inside her fridge. Natalie pulled a lot of things out, set them aside, then looked into her freezer and pulled some meat out that was wrapped in plastic. Wraith took the time to look around the room, noticing the different robotic arms near Natalie's bed.

"What's that?" She asked.

Natalie followed her gaze towards her prosthetics. "Oh, those are just extra prosthetics in case mine stops working."

"You have prosthetics? How have I not notice?"

"Nobody knows, except you now. I guess... it'd be weird if anybody knew that I was missing an arm, I don't know...," Natalie sighed.

"No one has said anything about Octavio's legs, and nobody finds it weird."

Natalie was chopping up vegetables and putting them onto a seperate plate. "I know that, I just think... if anybody knew I was missing a part of my body, they'll think it's disgusting? I don't know..." Natalie turned up the heat on the stove, turning the fan on now. The meat sizzling in oil. "It's just like my scar, I fear people stare at it and wonder if they find it gross."

"You're beautiful..." Wraith whispered.

" _Pardon_?" Natalie turns her head to face Wraith.

Wraith's heart jumped out of place, she accidentally blurted that out.

_She heard that._

"Uh- I... never once found your scar gross. In fact I think it looks good on you."

Natalie giggled, pulling her attention to the food on the stove. "Thank you."

Wraith pulled her scarf up to her face to hide the embarrassment. It was a close call that Wraith had something to say, hoping that Natalie didn't hear what she said. Though Wraith was telling the truth, Nat _is_ beautiful, and her scar brings out her beauty more. It's strange even for Wraith that a scar could make you more attractive, but that was the case for Wraith whenever she saw Natalie's face. Wraith knew that every scar has its own story, never good ones, but a burning desire in Wraith's stomach wanted her to go over and kiss Natalie's cheek so badly. It isn't the fact that Wraith loves that Natalie got hurt badly to leave a mark, but the fact that, maybe by kissing it, Wraith could heal it. Whether the scar was on purpose due to depressed reasons, or merely just a horrible accident, Wraith wants to make sure that the scar isn't an ugly mark that Natalie wishes to remove.

She watched Natalie shake the pan around as she used a big wooden spoon to move the vegetables and meat so they all cooked evenly. The sight of Natalie's back with her signature jacket, her short puffy blonde hair-

_Her legs..._

Wraith shook her head to snap herself out and hopefully the voices too before they said anything about Natalie's... uh, round side. As much as she wanted to gawk at Natalie's perfect posture, she knew she had to stop before she's caught in the act. Also just staring at Natalie's good body made her face burn again, whatever the word was. Wraith knows the word, it's in the back of her head, she just can't remember it. After a few more minutes, finally, Natalie turns the stove off and pours the ingredients in two different plates, making sure both plates are filled and even. The aroma of the room was outstanding, a smell Wraith couldn't pinpoint but loved anyways. She could feel the drool wanting to come out but Wraith did her best to keep it in her mouth.

" _Voilà!_ I'm very proud at how this came out! Though I'm sure something is burned... or undercooked..," Natalie grew hesitant now. "I guess we'll find out."

Natalie places the plate in front of Wraith before sitting across from her with her own plate of food. "If you want to know," Natalie pointed with her fork, catching Wraith's attention. "The ingredients is just green onions, tomatoes, a little bit of green peppers, salt, pepper, beef, red onion, and lettuce." Natalie reached for the bag of bread to pull out a loaf for herself.

"Where did you learn how to cook?" Wraith asked.

Natalie was caught by surprise, but smiled nonetheless. "I taught myself! It was only papa and I... I had to keep us alive. Though truth be told, I'm not very good at it. Cooking isn't my kind of thing..."

"Really? But you seem so good at it."

Natalie flinched, "like I said, looks don't always agree on taste." Blowing her spoonful of food, Natalie takes a bite and makes a weird face. Wraith followed suit, taking a big bite. Natalie watched Wraith's facial expression, looking for any signs of disgust.

Wraith, however, put an unexpected face. "Nat, this is amazing."

Natalie was confused, "uh, are you sure? The meat is overcooked and the vegetables are a bit charred..."

Wraith picks up the pace, scooping up all the ingredients in one spoon and taking a bite. "This is good!"

Nat wasn't too sure though, she rested her cheek on her fist. "You really do have weird taste buds _chérie..._ "

"You really don't like it? It's amazing."

Natalie sighed, pushing her plate forward, nibbling on her bread. "No, it isn't as good as I thought. You can have it. There's more on the pan if you want more."

Wraith nodded hungrily, scooping up more food and taking multiple bites. Natalie smiled, "slow down or you'll choke."

"Sorry, it's just so good... I wish I could eat good food like this everyday," Wraith said in between chews.

_Danger move!_

Wraith looked up at Natalie, who was blushing a deep red color. "What?" Wraith was confused, she didn't get what she said. What was wrong with what she said?

"W-well... it's just," Natalie cleared her throat. "It sounded like..," Nat hesitated, moving a hand down to twiddle her index fingers together. "Like you were implying that I should be your wife."

Wraith choked on her food. "WHAT?"

Natalie covered her mouth with her hands. "S-sorry! It was a dumb thing to say, please ignore it!" Natalie's face was redder than a beetroot.

Wraith's face was also burning hot, still hacking her lungs off. "W-wait!" She began, still coughing. Natalie brought her a glass of water that Wraith immediately gulped down to help her dry throat. "Why? Why did... was what I said really implied that?"

"Um...," Natalie left her mouth open, trying to find the words. Both woman blushing and at a loss of words, a very awkward atmosphere. "I mean- it's just- well- you see- I- you-"

"I didn't- I wasn't- really I- I mean- it's not-"

Both woman was trying to explain simultaneously.

"I could be wrong," Nat finally broke the awkward exchange. "But what you just said, I took it that you wanted to eat what I make everyday."

"Yeah, I... I do," Wraith pushed her bangs back.

"But I took it as... as a married life, I don't know how. I know I said I'll cook for you for now on, but it's only two meals a day. To cook for you every day... sounded more, er, personal... ," Nat was clearly embarrassed.

"O-oh! I get it. Yeah I guess it did sounded like that," Wraith awkwardly scratched the back of her head.

"It's...," Natalie smoothed out her bangs. "It'd be weird if I cooked for you _three_ meals a day as a friend. Two is already a lot but they way you said that sounded like you want all three. So that's why I took it as a married life."

"Yeah, I understand."

There was a long awkward silence between the two blushing woman, Natalie again breaking the silence. "I brought you here to talk about what was troubling you. Elliott said you needed my help?"

"Oh, r-right!" Wraith awkwardly coughs.

She totally forgot the main reason she got here. Wraith locked herself up in her room trying to sleep the entire day away until Elliott came knocking on her door to check up on her. She believed in him that Natalie was with him, seeing that both legends are the common visitors who's worried about her. But Natalie is the only legend in the entire ship that makes Wraith a completely different person... The word that would explain Wraith's behavior and feelings... she wonders, maybe by asking the one person who makes her feel what she feels is a good idea. Is it truly a good idea to be vulnerable for a second?

Then again, Wraith is already here and she's deep into this, she might as well...?

_Confess already._

"I...," Wraith's throat dried up as she began.

Natalie patiently waited.

"The truth is....," Wraith stopped, her entire head was burning hot.

"Are you alright?" Nat asked worriedly with a kind facial expression.

"Y-yes!" Wraith blurted out. "I..."

_Confess already._

_Just say it._

_Say it. Say it. Say it._

"I don't know the word... I don't know what's happening to me... but I do know it has something to do with you and you only. Ever since our first team-up, when you put down your pylon for me, you smiled at me. I've been feeling weird on my chest ever since. I keep thinking back on that smile. And now, everytime I look at you... I get this overwhelming good feeling that I can't control. I feel like I'm happy when it isn't happiness, it's something else entirely. Do you know what this is?"

Natalie blinked, staring blankly at Wraith.

"Nat?"

Natalie giggled. "So that's it, huh? That would explain so many things!"

"What's 'it'? What?"

Natalie's cheeks had a tint of pink again. "It sounds like you're madly in love with me!" Natalie giggled again.

Wraith gasped. "That's it! That's the word I've been looking for! I... am I... really in love?"

"I don't know, are you? I find you pleasing to look at too, _chérie_ ," Natalie said with a wink, making the older brunette blush a deeper red.

"I'm sure I do, I can't get you out of my mind ever since," Wraith admitted.

Nat snorted, "gosh this is too... this can't be real, can it?" She smiled into her palm. "So I'm the reason why you've been doing poorly."

Wraith sighed, "yes. You're just... really beautiful," Wraith confesses.

"You sure do have weird taste buds," Natalie laughs. "Didn't think you liked the bright and nerdy types.

"Neither did I..."

Both woman were smiling and chuckling, the atmosphere being relaxed and loving.

"Will you...?" Wraith tried but failed.

"Hmm?" Natalie hummed.

"Will you...? How do I say this...," Wraith snapped her fingers in an attempt to help her out. "...go on a date with me?"

Natalie cupped her cheeks with her hands, gazing lovingly towards Wraith. "I would love to," she smiles.

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Definitely want to edit this chapter the most. Things are going to be slow, so if you don't like this pace then sorry. Really at this point, to avoid character death and other tags I will be adding later, you could just stop at this chapter and fill the rest in with your head.


	4. Changing

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 25 minutes

Natalie is busy with some work with her tech-stuff Wraith couldn't understand, which was fine by her, she wanted to get some practice in. They had plan on having a date after the Apex Games, which was tomorrow. Wraith stepped into the firing range, seeing Anita already there, as usual. The older darker woman is at the firing range everyday in hoping to beat Wraith, her one true rival. Anita was wearing a black tank top, showing off her buff arms. The soldier was deep in concentration if she hasn't noticed Wraith yet. Anita fired off the last bullet in the mag of the G7 Scout, hitting a very far target, probably 200 meters, with just iron sights, scoring a 70. Anita reloaded, still not noticing Wraith, until the skirmisher claps.

"That's a hard target for iron sights."

Anita turned to her, doing her usual peace sign off her forehead. "Yo Wraith, good to see you again! This target ain't hard for skilled legends like us."

Us, she means her, Wraith, and Blothhundr. The top three most skilled legends in the arena, Blothhundr taking number two spot, Anita is placed third. Despite the trio, Wraith trains the least. Guess the human weapon was born to be a weapon...

"Gotta go harder...," Wraith said, pointing her Wingman up at a target 230 meters across. She takes a shot, earning a score of 50, Anita whistled.

"Nice shot! Iron sights too! Seems like you're coming to your senses."

"What's that suppose to mean?" Wraith questioned.

Anita shrugged, "you tell me, skirmisher. As top one, you always win your matches. Every team shuddered when they spot you in the fields. But the last two games," Anita stopped to shake her head. "It's like I didn't even know you anymore. What happened to the ruthless killing spree Wraith I knew? I really thought I'd have to look for Bloodhound for a challenge."

"Sorry, just didn't feel like myself at the time. I think I'm better now," Wraith said, taking another shot of her Wingman. It was the same target, this time she earned a score of 60.

"Here's hoping that's the truth," Anita fires another shot, earning a 30. "I'm looking forward to it, I miss my original rival kicking my ass inside-out," Anita laughs.

Wraith chuckled, somewhat missing Anita's company.

"Hey, if you're free later, how about we spar? Been awhile," Anita looked over at Wraith.

"I'm really not in the mood for sparring today...," Wraith sighs.

"Oh come on, you pack a lot of whoop-ass for someone your size," Anita measures Wraith's height with her hand, triggering Wraith.

Wraith grunted, "you're on."

Anita laughed, going back to shooting targets. "That's the spirit."

. . .

"I really don't know what happened, it's just kind of weird, ya know?" Makoa took a sip of his orange juice, sitting next to one of his bestest friends, Ajay.

"It's in all of our minds, none of us knows what could've caused her to drop so suddenly. Who knows," Ajay stopped to look at her nails to see if there was still any dirt left. "Maybe she was ill?"

"That still wouldnt explain how she played against the very last team, it wasn't like her at all. Wraith of all people wouldn't let something as small as sickness get in the way of her winning," Makoa set the empty cup on the smalltable next to him.

"After all this time, no matter how many times we can talk about this or just Wraith in general, we don't know her. She seems like the person who has a lot going on, maybe she was thinking about an old, bad memory and it messed with her head?" Ajay didn't really have that many leads to go with.

"Hm," Makoa breathed. "I want to ask her, I really do. I want to help the brotha. Let her know she's safe with us. Much like with you guys inviting Natalie to join us so we could be her new family, I also want to make sure that we're family to Wraith, too."

Ajay could only nod at him.

"But deep down I know, I know the woman wouldn't tell me a single thing. And it hurts me, it does, but I can't force things out of her. I'm not too worried as I believe in Wraith to figure things out herself. But there's something in my gut that's telling me not to let her go."

"I feel you in that," Ajay nodded again. "I'm worried about Wraith too, I tend to leave her alone when she wants to be. I really do hope that one day, she's able to trust us, just one of us, and talk to us. When I look into her ghostly eyes..." Ajay looked across the room like as if she was looking for something. "I see hurt, I see loneliness. Confusion. Lost."

"The best I could do is give her a hug when I see her, but the brotha has been distant lately, all locked up in her room. For how long now? Two weeks? When she lost the first game?" Makoa wondered.

"I believe so," Ajay couldn't really confirm.

"I miss seeing her around, she stopped coming down to eat. I hope she's eating well," Makoa sighed.

"I think Natalie has been taking a tray from the cafeteria and bringing it to her dorm, but not all the time."

"Good on her," Makoa smiled. "Speaking of the cafeteria, do you know what they're serving today?"

"Casserole, rice omelet, or chicken pot pie."

"Can't wait to eat!" Makoa rubbed his belly.

They both watched as some legends started rolling in the lobby since it was almost time for lunch. Only the busy or forgetful ones are late or they just never come, that being Wraith, Natalie, Alexander, and sometimes Crypto. Pathfinder never has to eat but he likes coming along just to talk to the other legends. Elliott comes over to join Ajay and Makoa.

"Hey kids," he flips his hair.

"Sup."

"Hey brotha."

"So," he says, taking a seat next to the giant. "What are we talking about today?"

"Can I join too?"

Everyone turned to Pathfinder, who was looking at all of them. Ajay scooched over and patted on the seat next to her.

"Sure honey, sit right here," she smiles towards the robot.

"Fun!"

"We were just talking about Wraith and what was for lunch today," Makoa answers.

"Again? She's been a hot topic for weeks now." Honestly Elliott was finding it tiring with all the speculations.

"Again, but you're one of the people who checks up on her more than others," Ajay crossed her arms, one eyebrow arched up as her lips perked up.

"Just being a friend, nothing wrong with that. I'm not the one constantly talking about her," Elliott shrugged.

"I have read signs of stress and confusion on Wraith," Pathfinder commented.

"Confusion?" Makoa questioned.

"Stress?" Ajay repeated.

"That is what I said. I have also read signs of confliction."

"Concflic... confic... confit... what?" Elliott struggled on the word, being too stupid to know the meaning of it.

"Wait wait wait," Makoa shook his hand towards Pathfinder. "Wraith? Conflicted?"

"Are you sure about that?" Ajay questioned.

"That is what I have collected on my latest data."

The group looked at each other.

"Conc....fitted about what?" Elliott asked.

"That is an information I can not gather," Pathfinder's screen on his chest changed from a smiley face to a sad face.

"Guess we'll just have to ask her," Ajay said.

"Wraith isn't going to tell us shit, she's the most mysterious legend in here!" Elliott threw his hands up.

"Am I a joke to you?"

The group turned to Blothhundr, who just now entered the lobby.

"Oh. Hey Blothhundr," Elliott waved.

Blothhundr ignored him, moving on to their own little corner to sharpen their knife as they wait for the cafeteria to open up.

"Well," Ajay started. "Second most mysterious legend in the ship."

"Yeah, at least we know * _some_ * things about her," Makoa said.

"Like what?" Elliott questioned.

Pathfinder raised his hand in excitement. "I know Wraith likes to call you an idiot!"

"Thanks for the knowledge Path," Elliott sighed.

Makoa and Ajay laughed at him.

They both stopped laughing when a loud grunt interupted them.

"Must you guys be so loud and annoying?"  
It was Alexander, wearing his yellow tank top and his white and red striped boxers. His tank top had all sorts of food stains, so did his boxers. He wore dirty white socks with sandals.

"Afternoon pops," Elliott waved.

"Heya dad," Ajay did a peace sign.

"I'm not your father," Alexander grumbled, scratching his big round belly.

Calling Alexander "dad" was a running joke to a few legends, mainly Elliott and Ajay. Natalie and Anita would sometimes pitch in, Pathfinder did too.

"Does he always have to look like he just woke up?" Elliott looked over to the group.

Makoa lightly hit his shoulder.

" _Bonjour!_ Everybody!" Natalie came into the lobby waving.

The group welcoming her with an "AYEEE."

"Hey sunshine, how's it going?" Makoa asks, giving Natalie a big bear hug.

"Careful Makoa, she's fragile," Ajay reminded him to be careful of Natalie's skinny body.

"Oh, things are going super well! I'm excited for the Games!"

"When are you not excited for anything...," Elliott mumbled.

"I too am excited for the games, I can't wait to beat people up!"

The group fell silent.

"That was a joke," Pathfinder tried telling them.

Ajay chuckled.

"You gonna join us here?" Makoa pointed at the last available seat that he was just sitting on, offering Natalie his spot.

Natalie shook her head. " _Pardon_ , no. I'm only here to get food and go, I'm not here to stay."

"Ah, a shame brotha."

"This for Wraith?" Ajay asks.

Natalie was caught by surprise, her face shading a nice faint pink.

"Ah-"

" **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The cafeteria is now open, you may now pick up and order food.** "

Natalie quickly excused herself stating that she was "in a hurry." The group thought nothing of it, letting her go that easily. They were hungry themselves, moving on to sit at the tables and eat. Natalie went into the order station to get herself a casserole. Truth is, she came down to get herself some food, not to bring food to Wraith. Natalie has already planned to make Wraith some lunch, and Wraith herself even insisted that she wanted to keep eating Natalie's food. Of course Natalie was happy to oblige to keep cooking for Wraith, she also couldn't help but think Wraith was better off eating the bland cafeteria food rather than her burnt or undercooked creations.

Picking up her tray, she waves a goodbye to her new family and leaves the cafeteria, walking through a long hallway. Natalie turned a corner and bumped against someone.

"Oops!"

"Hey!"

Natalie only stumbles back, her casserole fell off but thankfully it was packed inside a sealed container.

"Sorry!" She apologizes, extending her hand out to Anita.

Anita took her hand, using Natalie's weight to pull herself up. "Nah it's fine, if you were anyone else I would've beaten you."

"Uh.."

"Here," Anita bends down to give Natalie's food back. "You're lucky that container held that in, would've felt realll bad if it didn't."

"Oh," Natalie took her packed food back. "Thank you." Natalie looked up and down at Anita, who was sweating profusely. The older woman had some bruises on her muscular body, and Natalie knew those were new.

"Did you spar with someone?"

"Hm?" Anita looked at her arms, which were the most bruised. "Oh. Yeah, Wraith gave me an exciting challenge today. Seems like she's back to her old self again. Damn shortass got my adrenaline pumping! Excited to see her in the arena tomorrow!"

"Is she still in the firing range?"

"Should be," Anita shrugged.

"Alright, thanks for the info, I must be going now," Natalie waved.

"Be seeing you tomorrow."

Tomorrow, as in the games. Was Anita really that confident in her team to be the last one standing against Wraith's? Every squad has no leader, but Natalie found it easier to give a squad a name by grabbing the big-shot of the three. Bangalore being the "big-shot" in her squad, Wraith being the big-shot in hers. Although it's hard to say in Natalie's new team, since she's paired with two big-shots, which sounds completely unfair- since Wraith is ranked number one as the most skilled legend in the arena; Natalie just found it easier to call her squad 'Wraith's squad.' She knew the skill within Anita, which is why Natalie never challenges her in the arena. It took awhile for Blothhundr to ignore Anita completely, leaving the soldier to live and have her one on one fight in peace against Wraith. Natalie noticed too, how the soldier always ignores her and Blothhundr. Whenever her and Blothhundr take Anita's teammates down, they just stand around and watch Wraith's battle against Anita. Sometimes the two would have a gun battle, sometimes they would have a fist fight. Either way, the skirmisher always came on top.

Natalie is proud of her teammates, they worked very hard to get their places and they show it off every game. It does make Nat anxious to be with both Wraith AND Bloodhound, somewhat afraid that they're judging her at times. Well, maybe Wraith never judged her once, but she knew Bloodhound is always secretly judging her. The technological tracker is very serious about winning, saying that multiple losses will have them show their "wrath." They should be lucky for this season, seeing that Blothhundr got paired up with Wraith. The bad part of their team was of course Natalie herself. Even though she has been watching the legends before she joined the Apex Games, actually being _in_ the games was an entirely different thing. Natalie has grown significantly, getting only about zero to one kills with little damage when she first began to getting about five kills and doing about nine-hundred damage. Her highest kills in one game was ten, and her highest damage was almost two-thousand, but not quite. Compared to Blothhundr and Wraith, Natalie's "highest" was pathetic. Blothhundr's highest kills in a game is fourteen, Wraith was twenty. Blothhundr's highest damage is 2.8k, meanwhile Wraith had 4.1k, achieving the 4k damage badge, which she proudly puts up in her frame.

Natalie made it to the second floor, where the firing range was located. She spotted Wraith target practicing with a Wingman, no optics. The target she was shooting at seemed like it was 320 meters away, but Natalie couldn't make sure. The longest target is 400m, that was the limit of the room. She watched as Wraith takes a shot, actually hitting the impossibly far target, scoring just a 10, but still impressive. The sound of Natalie's loud footsteps with her sneakers caught Wraith's attention, earning a rare and sweet smile from the older brunette. Natalie counted herself lucky to witness Wraith's rare smile a lot, even more luckier that it had a more meaningful meaning than just happiness. It was loving.

"Afternoon _chérie_ , care to join me in my room for some lunch?"

Wraith put the Wingman down, wiping the sweat off her forehead and pushing her bangs to the side. "I'd love to but I really don't want to get caught..."

Natalie stepped closer to Wraith. "I saw every legend at the cafeteria so you don't-," Natalie stopped as she noticed bruises on Wraith's arms and cheek.

"Sparred with Anita, we didn't wear gloves, just went at it raw."

With this knowledge, Natalie took hold one of Wraith's hands and saw that the knuckles were red and bleeding. Wraith somewhat feeling guilty now that Natalie has seen her beat up.

But then, Natalie did the unthinkable, catching Wraith off guard. She pulls Wraith's hand up to kiss the bloodied knuckles, then gently rubbing at them with her thumb. Her eyes were sad but gentle, it shown feelings of being upset, yet also caring.

"And your face...," Natalie let go of Wraith's hand, moving her right hand just hovering over Wraith's bruised left cheek. "Does it hurt?"

Wraith stared into Natalie's beautiful ocean eyes, the two woman just inches apart.

"No."

Natalie went in to gently touch Wraith's cheek, but she hesitated, pulling her hand back. Wraith took a breath with her nostrils, taking Natalie's hand and guiding her fingers to the bruise.

"It doesn't hurt," she tried telling Nat again.

"I'm scared that-"

"Nat-"

"I mean," Natalie's sighed. "Look at the color!"

Every other bruise that can be clearly seen from Wraith was red, but the bruise on her cheek, which was the biggest one by far, was blue.

"I'm sorry," was all Wraith could say.

"And you're still shooting? When your hand is injured?"

Wraith rubbed at her aching knuckles. "Sorry."

Natalie sighed, taking one of Wraith's wrist and pulling her to the edge of the room where the medical supplies were. Natalie tells Wraith to take a seat, the younger blonde grabbing some gauze. She takes a small towel and soaks a corner with water, squeezing and turning the towel in knots to leave the corner moist and not dripping. Natalie washes off the blood from Wraith's hands and then covers her knuckles up with the gauze. Natalie tells Wraith to hold the gauze in place as she grabs some adhesive tape to hold them together. Taking a pair of scissors from the same box where the supplies came from, Natalie takes two different strips of tape for each hand before finally having both of Wraith's hands patched up.

Natalie gently pats Wraith's left hand, "there we go, you're all set."

"And the bruises?" Wraith's asks.

"They'll heal on their own overtime _chérie_."

Wraith stands up from the bench, looking up at Natalie's eyes again.

"This one, however...," Natalie bit her bottom lip as she cupped Wraith's left cheek with the giant blue bruise. "Might take a little longer."

"She got me real good with that punch," Wraith rubbed her cheek.

Natalie shook her head at her, her face a little annoyed. "Please wear gloves next time..."

"I will."

Natalie picks up her casserole, "good. Now come, I'm excited to cook!"

Wraith followed behind her, hoping that no one got out of the cafeteria early to spot them together. It was against the rules for legends to get close to one another, as in dating. No legends are suppose to set foot in another's legends dorm, or have a relationship that isn't strictly professional. Wraith made sure of that rule, seeing that she needs the games to uncover her past. Then again, Wraith didn't find anyone attractive... until now that is- and now she's jeopardizing her past all because Natalie is too beautiful to resist. Wraith really did curse at herself for what's become of her, because she took that rule seriously, yet also paid no mind to it seeing as it was useless to her since she didn't really like anybody. Elliott didn't care about that rule, immediately flirting with Wraith back when she first began. She cringed thinking about his terrible pick-up lines and attempts for jokes that earned him nothing but death glares and even some threats.

When both woman were slowly treading up the stairs, Wraith remembered about Natalie's busy schedule.

"Hey wait," she began, Natalie continuing to go up the stairs but still made a sound to let Wraith know that she was listening. "I thought you were busy today?"

"I am, you'll see what I'm working on in a few seconds."

Wraith didn't try to ask anymore, seeing that Natalie will just push her questions aside until Wraith sees for herself. Wraith wasn't impatient, and she did care about the things Natalie enjoyed to do, but Wraith was also hoping to spend her days with Natalie more. She isn't able to do that if Natalie is going to keep working on her tech and being _away_ from the legends during her free days. But if the tech Natalie works on was important, the ring, for example, then yes, Wraith would understand for Nat to work on it to adjust it. But if it was something unimportant... it slightly irritates Wraith that she could be having their date today if it weren't for the work Natalie gives herself. At least Wraith could be with the younger blonde during meal hours, but it was only for about fifteen minutes before Wraith had to leave to not seem suspicious or get caught. The last thing Wraith would want to do is get Natalie banned from the games just because they were caught together. Wraith could manage getting banned herself, though staying in the games would grant her a higher chance of looking for the secret locked vaults where the IMC Detention Facility for the mentally ill was located. The answer she needs is right below her feet, she just... doesn't know a way in or how many entrances there is.

The one and only entrance Wraith got out of years ago has since been lost. Wraith kept doubting herself when she kept checking on it months ago, going crazy that she might've just looked past it. But she wasn't. The entrance wasn't there anymore, and she made sure of that. She looked through the cracks of the rocks and checked around every corner, kicking off some pebbles and sand, looking under rocks and moving aside boulders. There was nothing there anymore. She knows it's under the arena, she just didn't have the technology to break through, nor did she have the weapons to protect herself. Wraith _could_ illegally carry weapons from the games itself, but with no lead of a single entrance, there's no point checking around with a gun in her pocket.

_The answers...._

_How much longer before I finally reach it?_

The voices picked up now, being stuck in the same place as the current, original Wraith. Feeling lost without any knowledge to her name, her home planet, her family, her past.

They made it in front of Natalie's dorm, Wraith idling by, relating to the frustrated voices who are aching to get the answers they seek. Natalie pressed on the number pad to unlock her door, the door sliding sideways as the correct PIN was entered. Wraith trudged inside the room, stepping on heaps of paper, she immediately noticed a mechanism in the middle of the room. It projected a orange light, some kind of mountain. Wraith looked closely at it, the mechanism looked as if it was graphing out terrain.

"Is this what you're working on?" She asks.

"Mhm! It's the ring. I'm only adjusting it since I've had reports of some technical issues from the staff. It'll be fixed tonight," Natalie set her casserole on the kitchen table, already grabbing some pots and facing her stove.

Wraith was intrigued, how Natalie could do this was beyond her, but the skirmisher was impressed nonetheless.

"So what happens if you don't fix it by tonight?"

Natalie was setting the ingredients up on the counter next to the stove, turning the heat on to medium. "I have an extra, I always have an extra. I make sure the substitute duplicates are up to date and in top condition."

"Hmm...," Wraith left the mechanism, pulling a chair up as she waited for her lunch. "But what if they were all broken?"

"Well, the Apex Games would be postponed to a later date, until one of the rings is fixed."

Wraith took note of that.

"You seem to know a lot of stuff about the arena," Wraith shifted her right arm to rest her cheek on her hand.

"I helped design it! Er, some. I am the daughter of the Games’ lead electrical engineer after all. Nobody knows the arena better than me."

"So you know every terrain and rooms?" Wraith had a feeling the information she's trying to get at wouldn't be mentioned since the vault she came out of has been erased to the public eye.

Natalie stirred the pot around as she multitasked with another pan. "Yes," she said, pausing. "Is there something you want to know about?"

How would Wraith bring this up without being too specific-

"A locked black vault? Linked to a mountain in the desert."

_Way to be non-specific..._

"A what?" Natalie turned to look at Wraith.

Wraith shook her head at her, "nothing. Forget I said anything."

Natalie turned back to the stove, keeping eye on the pot for any boiling bubbles. "Hey _chérie_..."

Wraith was looking at the prosthetic collection again. "Yes?"

There was a moment of silence, the only sound emitting was the fan above the stove and the sizzles from the frying pan.

"You can tell me anything. I haven't seen nor heard of a 'black vault' in the arena, but maybe perhaps my superiors have?" Natalie put some things away in the fridge, moving back and forth from the counter to the fridge. "Is it important? It sounds like it is."

"Well, it's important to me, but... if you haven't even heard about it then chances are your superiors haven't either. Just..," Wraith sighed, feeling the weight lift off her body. "Forget about it."

"Alright," was all Natalie could say, though she will secretly remember that for now on. She's known about the arena for years now, through her papa, but no real knowledge compared to today. When she was just a girl, she stuck close to him, being interested in his work and reading every book she got her hands on, trying to gain knowledge as quick as possible to stick close to her papa. If he was around today, maybe, just maybe, he knows about the black vault. But he isn't. Natalie wants to help Wraith, she does, and she wanted to know the origin of Wraith's powers. Bloodhound was the only other legend who can use supernatural powers just like Wraith, after they shout "I bathe in the bloth!" Their eyes glowing red through their gas mask, wild beasts and animal sounds emitting from them, red lights and lightning floating around their body. Bloodhound also gets a speed boost, even saying that their vision changes when they use their power. The entire world being black and white as enemies glow red, making it easier to spot them.

Wraith was of course different, she could phase through a different dimension, or a better way to see it is; Wraith could travel through a different universe of the same timeline. That's all Natalie could think about when she goes into one of Wraith's created portals. The space being different shades of blue, though the same world, there's nothing there. She could only look into that world for a couple of seconds before she's back in her original universe.

Natalie decided to ask about Wraith's power in a minute, itching to know the details of how it works. She turns the stove off and grabs two plates for Wraith, a flat plate and a bowl. She filled the bowl with some soup she made and filled the other with all sorts of things. Placing both plates in front of the older skirmisher, Natalie brings the salt over and places it in the middle of the table. Natalie sits down herself, pushing her chair in and finally opening up her casserole.

"And you're sure you're not an expert?" Wraith says as she tastes the soup first, her face lighting up.

Natalie starts in one corner, scooping some casserole out and popping it in her mouth. The flavor, of course, could be better, but it's better than her overcooked cooking. "Yes, I'm sure," she chuckles, taking more bites.

"This tastes really great though, you're missing out."

Natalie scrunched up her nose. Wraith only shrugged, going back to enjoy Nat's cooking.

"Do you ever want to talk about yourself? Your interests? Likes? Dislikes?" Natalie asks.

Wraith stopped chewing, looking down at her plate as she ponders. "I don't... know what I like."

Wraith looked out the window, the view of the mountains in the distance reminded her of the mountain she came out of years ago. The vault.

"I don't have anything to say about myself, I don't know who I am," she takes another spoonful of food.

"But you're doing it right now."

"Huh?" Wraith looks up at Nat, who was smiling towards her. Her hands neatly placed on the table.

"You don't know who you are, you do have something to say about yourself. I didn't know that, you see. And now that I know that you don't know about yourself, we could come up with some ideas to help you remember."

Wraith let's go of her spoon in the bowl of soup, the tone of her voice shifting to a serious one. "Nat, it's not that simple."

"How so?" Natalie leaned closer to the table, eyeing Wraith. "You can trust me, I want to help you. What is this black vault? Why don't you know your own name? How did you get your powers?"

Natalie leaned back to her chair, noticing that she's making Wraith a little uncomfortable. "Listen _chérie_..., there is a _lot_ to know about you. But if you don't know it yourself, at least let me help you. Maybe if I take you to a place, you'll remember something?"

Wraith lit up at that. "Is that possible?"

Natalie shrugged, "we can't find out unless we try."

"I don't have any leads to go anywhere," Wraith said, going back to sipping her soup.

Natalie too went back to her food, chewing on a bit of casserole. "Then we'll go everywhere."

Wraith lost interest, shaking her head now. "Forget it, it'll take years, I won't find anything that way."

Natalie cut another piece of casserole off from the container. "Is there something else then? Like the black vault? Maybe we could look for it?" Natalie popped the piece of casserole in her mouth.

Wraith wore a grim expression, she pushed the plates of food aside and crossed her arms. Wraith knew the entrance to the IMC Detention Facility had her files, her past, everything. But to go back there... Wraith shudders at the thought of needles piercing her skin, being strapped onto an electrical chair, or worse, being isolated in a tiny cell with nothing but a static TV playing. She knows she'll have to go back eventually to find the answers of who she once was, but it was impossible. The only entrance she knew is gone, and with no technology to help her break through the ground under the arena, Wraith will never get her answers. And to tell the details to Natalie? Wraith won't allow it, she's afraid of scaring the young defender.

" _Chérie?_ "

Wraith shook her head once again. "It's impossible, just forget it."

"If there's tec-"

"Nat, forget it-"

"We can ask Crypto for help."

"I don't trust him, just forget it," Wraith pushed her bangs to the side when they were in the way of her vision.

Natalie slumped against her chair, pushing her casserole aside. Neither of them ate much, both of them not being hungry anymore. Natalie busied herself with her fingers, trying to think. Wraith was looking down at the floor, not being interested in the math equations but just needing a reason to look away.

"Are you afraid?" Natalie asks, but receives no answer. She shook her leg, an act she copied from her papa to stay calm.

"Of losing me?" She continued anyways.

"Something like that."

"...." Natalie thought a bit more. "Is it an old, bad memory? The black vault?"

"Something like that."

Natalie decided to stop asking since Wraith wasn't willing to give out any details. It was upsetting to know that Wraith couldn't trust her yet, of course it bothered Nat, but she quickly moved on from it.

"Sorry..."

"No," Wraith stands up from her chair, pushing it in to the table. "I'm sorry. I just.... I want to tell you, I trust you, but I'm afraid, because I know the moment I open my mouth... I might find myself in a bad spot."

"You're leaving?" Natalie stands up abruptly, causing her chair to fall backwards.

"Have to go before anyone notices," Wraith shrugs, pushing her bangs to the side again.

"What do you mean a 'bad spot'? I would never hurt you or report you. No matter what, I'm on your side, I need you to know that." Natalie stepped closer to Wraith, who's hand was inches apart from the knob.

"Neither of us can confirm that...," Wraith huffed, suppressing a sarcastic laugh.

Natalie took hold of Wraith's wrist, making the older woman turn to her. "I'm on your side, no matter what!"

Wraith stared at Natalie, and she knew, the look in her blue eyes showed promise. Trust. Care. All the things Wraith needs to relieve her trust issues. She opened her mouth to speak, closing it to think her words over.

"You're the daughter of the Games’ lead electrical engineer, are you willing to risk yourself being banned from the one thing you helped create just to know who I am?" Wraith deadpanned.

Natalie looked down, Wraith had a feeling that Natalie was going to let her go. Instead, she surprised Wraith by taking hold of Wraith's other wrist with her free hand. Natalie looked straight into her ghostly eyes, her eyes lighting up with determination.

"I risked my life attempting to create a machine by myself with no supervision of my papa, and blew my arm off in an electrical accident. Being in the Games means a lot to me, but I'm willing to sacrifice it. I'm with you Wraith!"

Wraith was shocked, shocked to know that Natalie was being serious on staying by her side. It felt nice, for Wraith, to know someone cares about her enough to seriously help her. The skirmisher can finally trust someone, and that someone was someone Wraith cared about. Loved, even. Wraith looked away trying to hide her blush, hoping that her scarf would help her. "Alright fine," she begins. "I'll... tell you some other time. Just, really think it over, and then get back to me if you're really sure. This is a lot of trouble you'll be dragged into, and one where... you might make some enemies..."

"Wraith..."

"I have to go," Wraith releases herself from Natalie's hold. She unlocks the door, taking the hatch between her index finger and thumb, sliding it out of place. Wraith reached for the knob, her wrist suddenly being grabbed again.

Wraith turned to look over at Nat, in which the younger blonde cups Wraith's unbruised cheek and kisses Wraith's bruise before releasing her. "I didn't kiss it earlier... hopefully your cheek will recover quicker now," Natalie winked and smiled.

Wraith could feel her entire face burning up, she pulls her scarf over her nose in an attempt to hide her smile. "I-I'm going n-now!" She blurts out, opening the door and speedwalking out before she gets any more embarrassed. Natalie stood in the doorway giggling quietly, she couldn't help but find Wraith so cute. The defender goes back inside her room, instantly locking it as she goes back to her ring adjustment.

Wraith went back to her own dorm, seeing that she had no reason to be anywhere else. She had no business with anyone, nor any hobbies to waste time. All she had was her thoughts, her infinite thoughts, and the voices. The memories she can't get rid of, how they haunt her every day, every night. The burning image of Natalie's ravishing smile. The day Wraith was founded by somebody and they invited her to the arena since she had no home.

She closed her door, leaning her back against it, sighing, she pulls her scarf back down in place, now that she wasn't embarrassed anymore. Her energy already drained the second she set foot inside her room, she already felt lonely. But what to do, when no one else is allowed to be in your dorm. The day began with a minor practice, then an exciting brawl, a lovely time, and now... it's back to how it always is, dull, prolonging, gray. Wraith's body instantly felt tired, especially her ribs, which she believes she can feel the weight of. Maybe she was depressed, but such is life when you wake up in a Detention Facility for the mentally ill, being drugged and abused for "data." The horror of hearing voices, and being the _only_ person to hear voices. Keeping you awake all night for days on end, never shutting up, not having the ability to block them off. The fact Wraith has no recollection of her past, her name, family, anything, frightens her. To be alone like this.... to be alone in a grand world- no, to be alone in the infinite galaxy with other planets either bigger or smaller, whether discovered or not. Despite her face being shown off in banners, broadcasts, you name it, she still received no contact of people who might know her.

Maybe Wraith was forgotten, maybe Wraith was left behind, perhaps she's been in the IMC all her life. Perhaps. Or perhaps any relation she had has been killed or cut off from her completely. Maybe they too were stuck in another IMC building, Wraith can't say for sure, the possibilities are endless. But she decided to drop it before she gave herself a headache at trying to find a reason of what could be the answer. She plopped down on the bed face-first, not budging anymore. If it weren't for Wraith not knowing a single detail of her past, she would've found her life to be meaningless, hopeless, wasteful. But the only thing keeping her up now was to know who she was.

_Who am I?_

"We're all stuck in the same boat...," Wraith mumbles. "How pathetic I am."

She stayed there for the rest of the day.

~~~


	5. Strength

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 42 minutes

The Games was today, just an hour after breakfast, and breakfast is served on 8am. The clock still being unplugged two days ago, Wraith didn't bother setting it up again, she was too busy trying to survive the night. She laid there for hours yesterday afternoon, only leaving her bed to go to the bathroom. But when the skirmisher finally had a chance to sleep in the night several hours later, she was having... episodes. Though Wraith really didn't have the right word to call it, to her, it seems like it's an illusion from the brain itself. Wraith has been keeping track of all of them, it's been happening back when she was in the IMC. It happened more often when she was in the IMC than in the Apex Games, she wondered if stress has anything to do with it.

All Wraith knows is that there's three different types of sleep episodes she's experienced, or illusions, it was hard to say whether what she's feeling is real or not. The first one, which only happened once, was when Wraith was laying on her bed, in the middle of the night. She couldn't move, and suddenly a shadowy figure stands next to her. The figure presses their hand on her stomach, causing Wraith to cough the remaining air out as she's trying to gasp for oxygen. At that time, Wraith desperately tried reaching out to defend herself, but the harder she tried to move, the more difficult it was for her to move and breathe. Her entire body kept piling on more invisible weight, and the shadowy figure's hand kept pressing on Wraith's stomach that she felt like her organs were being crushed. She was only saved when she woke up, not being able to sleep for two days straight.

The second being the same scenario, Wraith waking up on her bed, but still in a dream, much like the last one. And, she couldn't move, except for her fingers and toes, which she kept wiggling to see if anything would happen. There was no shadowy figure, there was nothing. Just her, paralyzed in the night. Few moments later, her heart rate slows down every second, and soon, her entire body goes numb. She couldn't breathe, it was like if she was under the ocean, breathing through a thin straw. Then her heart rate picked up when she was panicking, thinking she might be dying from a heart attack. Luckily for Wraith, she woke up, and that dream is a bit common.

The final one, is Wraith waking up, and actually being in her reality. Except, when she wakes up, her heart isn't beating for a few seconds. Because of this, a cough is forced out everytime, and she gasps for air when she finally has the privilege to do so. It isn't the fact that she forgot to breathe, it's that when she tries to, nothing happens. She isn't inhaling air until her heart beats again. This episode has two parts, waking up with no heart beat and being unable to breathe is the first part. The second part being the same thing, except, instead of sitting up the instant Wraith knows she can't breathe, Wraith is paralyzed. She wakes up from a "nightmare", even if she's dreamt of nothing, and then her body forcibly goes back to sleep. No matter how many times Wraith tries to fight it, it is simply impossible. She goes to sleep in an instant, then waking up in a split second, then her body quickly goes to sleep again. The cycle goes on for half a minute, each time she wakes up her heart stops beating and she forces out coughs trying to inhale air, but then she loses her sight and goes back to sleep. The only time Wraith can get out is when she fights for her life in what she calls the "final dream." Wraith is convinced once she's losing her vision after a few times she wakes up, if she let's her vision close out without Wraith closing her eyes, she believes she'll die. Because of her heart rate still slowing down and stopping, and her body still being paralyzed.

These are the major things Wraith experiences, but it isn't all of them. There is a lot more Wraith kept track of, but they aren't as common, or as terrifying. The voices keep her up at night, which she thanks them for existing to help keep her up. But it isn't just the voices that keep Wraith up at night, it's the fear of her going to sleep to experience these episodes.... or illusions. If Wraith truly had a heart disease, she would experience palpitations at least once in the middle of the day, or get some sort of attack. She only gets attacks at night, when she's asleep or when she wakes up, and that's the odd part. If Wraith had a heart disease, why would she _only_ get problems at night? If she didn't have a heart disease, why does she get heart attacks _only_ at night? That's where Wraith thinks that everything is just an illusion produced by the brain.

Wraith believes in Death, the Grim Reaper, she feels as if... the Grim Reaper is looming over her body, toying around with her, like as if Wraith hadn't had enough. Everytime Death takes ahold of Wraith's heart, he watches her, as Wraith struggles to survive, finally finding life meaningful when she thinks it's about to end. She believes, one day he'll rip it out of her chest when he wants to, during her sleep. Then bending down to sweep her soul off her body, remembering the look on her expression before she died, the most tasteful display to Death everytime he takes another life. Wraith knows he's around, there's a Grim Reaper for everyone. She just wonders when she'll meet her deadline.

Even if Wraith has said it countless times, with confidence, in a silky smooth tone. Deep down inside, if anybody truly asked, the truth was, she was afraid of death. Maybe she wouldn't fear it once she finds out who she is, but for now, she's scared of dying with no recollection of her past. Wraith isn't afraid of anything besides Death himself, she has the void to help her. Her other selves, doing the same yet different things. Any failed Wraith's will pass their final messages to the original, letting Wraith know of any dangers and to stray away from what they did.

The Games wasn't until a few hours, the sun was just beginning to rise behind the mountains. The sky a beautiful mix of blue, pink, and purple shades. Wraith drew the drapes, finding the sunrise annoying when the light was hitting her eyes. She switches to the left side, trying to be comfortable to get some rest. She had no luck, she didn't know how long she laid there, but her entire room was slightly lit up as the sun was shining through. Wraith sighs and gets out of bed, pushing her bedside table to find the cable of her alarm clock before plugging it in.

6:29am.

Wraith rubbed her temples, having a slight headache, she went over to her sink to get a sip of water. Opening a drawer and picking up a cup, she fills it up with water and drinks it. Wraith suppose she could start her day off early... her usual schedule, but after sleeping soundly for two days straight, which was rare, Wraith really didn't want to be up right now. She isn't a morning person to begin with, but she always gets off early to practice. Not like the skirmisher had anything else to do, other than wait for the next Games to roll around again.

_What a life._

"Thanks," she muttered to herself, literally.

The option to have her own life, living normally and enjoying her freedom is always an open option Wraith can switch to. She's been in the Games for almost a year and she hardly loses, meaning that she's the richest legend of them all with her win rate. She got famous rather quickly, of course, that was her aim. Hoping for a relative or an old friend to reach out to her, but no luck. It's a dangerous gamble, since the IMC knows her location. But being in the Apex Games for almost a year has made Wraith a force to be reckoned with, so even if the IMC made their move on her, Wraith wouldn't back down without a fight. If they come, even better, maybe Wraith can loot up their bodies for a road map, or a chip, or even a COMM radio. But that hasn't happened yet, none of the IMC has come for her head, she knows they're watching her though. Most likely still collecting "data." It wouldn't be the best move to come at Wraith in the Games either, the IMC has their facilities underground, away from plain sight, in abandoned or unused biomes. They're obviously a secret organization for testing, it's obvious they're linked to the government or council, funding these facilities and departments for their own disgusting military gains.

For the IMC to get their guinea pig back meant they'd have to reveal themselves to the public eye, and that isn't a good tactic. Of course, the IMC could always go undercover and get into the Apex Games, either as a contestant, a staff member, or any other jobs the Syndicate has to offer. It's a possibility, but it isn't the brightest idea either, as Wraith can take on a few people by herself. If they want her back, they'd have to have a group with them, armed and ready. Wraith was certain they want her alive, if they didn't she'd most likely be dead by now. She wasn't sure if they're willing to blow up the entire ship, but if they're capable of doing that and find a way to get away with it, they'd do it by now. Wraith is an important project to them, so even if the IMC had one-hundred different ways to end her life, even if it meant sacrificing innocents, they wouldn't do it. She's the only best subject they had, and one who can use their powers well too.

So yes, Wraith could have her own free life, she has the money for it after all. But if she's being watched, she can't leave the Games or she'll endanger herself. They could track her down, kill her in her sleep by sneaking in. They could shoot her through a window. They could stab her. They could pretend to be a normal civilian, and then they call reinforcements and they all tackle her, bringing her back to the Facility, strapping her onto the electrical chair for another wave of electrical drills. She'd be stuck on the chair for a little longer, dazed and confused, numb, her entire body pulsing, burning her alive. A rush of doctors coming in, each of them a needle in hand...

Wraith slammed her fist on the wall, creating a crater, her wrapped knuckles cushioned the blow a bit. She gritted her teeth, her headache getting worse now. Rubbing her temples wasn't working, and now her hand worsened, forgetting that her knuckles were sore and bleeding. She rubs her aching hand in an attempt to make the pain go away, but it was futile. She can't forget what she's gone through, the rush of memories always comes back. Always. No matter how many times she hates thinking about it, or doesn't want to think about it, it creeps up on her. When she looks at certain events, specific objects, specific sounds, images, the memories flood in. It's horrible, Wraith hates it.

Wraith turns to her left to look at the damage on the wall. There was a large hole, too big for her to _try_ and patch up. Wraith looked around her room, finding the perfect painting she had since the dorm was given to her. She takes the painting off the wall and goes back to the hole, hanging the painting over it just right.

_Now what._

Confused, she stared at the painting a while longer, feeling that the voices had something going on for once.

_What if there is a way._

Wraith couldn't understand what her other self was trying to get at.

_The painting, the hole._

She understood now, the painting represents the arena, and the hole is the Detention Facility. The painting itself was just a oil canvas of a vase with a window in the background, nothing special. Wraith put her hand on the painting, it was encased in glass and a wooden frame. Glass is solid, but it can be broken, just like the canvas with enough force. But are the voices trying to tell her that the entrance is covered up and she'll have to break through, or are they saying there's an entrance where she can easily push an object out of the way?

Wraith stepped away now, having no time for useless thoughts she can't confirm. Making her way out of her door, since she planned on getting some practice in the morning if she couldn't go back to sleep, Wraith put up her bun first. She opens her door and locks it behind her, tying up the final knot. There was more bangs on her face than usual, she must've missed a few strands. It didn't bother her though, pushing them aside, tucked behind her ears. She went down to the second floor, turning the hatch lock and opening the metal doors to the firing range. Wraith was surprised to see Crypto bright and early already practicing before the Games, it was unusual to find the hacker outside of his room. He sees her coming in, putting up a hand as a hello before turning back to the dummies. He was using the Triple Take, going for the farthest dummy possible, which is 400 meters.

"Crypto," Wraith half-greeted, walking up behind him then looking at all the weapons display before picking up the R-99. "Rare to see you out of your room."

"Heh," Crypto chuckled. "I could say the same to you, skirmisher. Locking yourself up and talking to yourself is all you do now?"

"How would you-"

"I listen to all. It sounds like you might need my help." Crypto fires a shot, earning a score of 90, his face was displeased.

"What do you mean?" Wraith scowled at him, finding him suspicious on how much he might know.

"Talk about the 'black vault,' I could help you look for it." He turns to Wraith, a mischievous smile on his face once he sees Wraith's expression. "Now now, hear me out," he puts a finger up. "I've created a new device, you see. It's a virus, the most powerful virus I've created. All I have to do is stick the USB to a computer, and I'll be able to pinpoint this "black vault" on the map."

This peaked Wraith's interest, but she had to tread carefully about the subject. "Stick the USB where?"

"I was thinking of setting the USB on the Syndicate, actually. I mean, you did ask Natalie if she knew about the black vault, didn't you? So that means the vault is in the arena." He looks up at Wraith again, an evil smile on his face.

Wraith set the R-99 down, crossing her arms, she half-turned to Crypto. "Correct... it is...," she takes a second to think. "What do you want? To sneak into the Syndicate... you're risking yourself getting banned for someone you don't know."

Crypto smiles again. "I want to know about this black vault you speak of, see what's in there, you know? I'll happily collect any data I can find that I have not collected yet."

Wraith spins around, taking a few steps closer. "How would the data help you? You don't even know what's in there."

Crypto walks past her, putting the Triple Take back on the gun display. He shoves his hands in his pocket, looking out to the dummy he was shooting at before. "Your past, it seems like. Natalie made it obvious with the personal questions. She's on board with my knowledge, and I already know the conversation, so why not let me help you?"

Wraith stared at him, puffing out a suppressed laugh. "I don't need your damn help. Consider this a warning, quit spying on me and maybe you won't find yourself dead."

Crypto turns his head towards Wraith's direction, he wore a grin on his face. "Then let me tell you something. You need to stay in the Games to be close to the vault, right? In case you find it again?"

He inches closer to Wraith, bending down to her ear. "What would the Syndicate do if they heard that you've been in Natalie's dorm? What would they do if they knew you're getting a little intimate with a legend?"

Wraith jumps back. "You wouldn't."

Crypto shrugs, his hands still in his pocket, the confident smile still on his face. "Oh, but I would. So what's it going to be?" He pulls out a USB from his left pocket, dangling it between his fingers.

"Fuck you."

"So you refuse?" Crypto asks one last time.

Wraith clenches her fists, her knuckles aching as she was putting too much force when they're still recovering. She grits her teeth as she looks up at Crypto. "Fine, you win. I need your help in locating the vault."

Crypto smiles, throwing the USB at Wraith, which she barely catches. "Sneaking is your thing, isn't it? Tonight, sneak up at the headquarters and find a pc. Hook the virus up, and I'll start my work from there. I'll need you to keep watch of the area, don't want anyone pulling the USB off."

Crypto moves towards the exit, stopping just before the door. "A pleasure to be working with you, _skirmisher_."

Wraith slipped the USB in her pocket, taking the R-99 from the display again. She shoots at every dummy, moving the gun in quick side motions to hit every target. Using her anger to land every headshot, the skirmisher went feral on the dummies. It was just her alone, but if she knew that she was being eavesdropped the entire time Crypto joined, she would've been a bit more careful. To think, that Crypto is the most dangerous one of them all. His ability to hack anything, knowing everything about anything, secretly collecting data and using any knowledge to blackmail people to have things go his way. It disgusted Wraith to know that she fell for it, she's in his grasp now. Once he sees the vault for himself, he will most likely replicate the experiments to gain the dimensional powers for his own gain, that, or collect human trash as his test subjects, just like how Wraith once was. Wraith let out all her anger in a flurry of bullets, the R-99 blazing as she quickly dropped mags after mags, hitting every target.

. . .

The alarm set at 7:45am ringed, the blonde sets the twin bell alarm off, switching position to the right side, still half asleep.

" _Cinq minutes de plus_...," she mumbles.

The twin bell rang again, fully waking the defender up. She whines as she sits up, snoozing the clock and setting the timer up for tomorrow. She grunts tiredly, not having enough sleep since she was up late at night working on the last adjustments for the ring.

" _J'ai à peine dormi_...," Natalie tiredly rubs her eyes, yawning, a tear forming on her right eye. She rubs her eye again to dry it off.

The girl sits up from her bed, a few papers falling off from her sheets. She makes her way over to her mirror, just nearby her bed. Her hair was a mess, it was puffy, with some strands standing on end, others curling out. Natalie tried smoothing them out with her fingers but they springed back up when her fingers was out of the way. She sighs, pushing aside papers from the drawer in search for her hair brush.

" _Où est-ce_?"

She opens up the top drawers with no luck, quickly leaving the area to go brush her teeth instead. There wasn't enough time for Natalie to shower, she had to bring the ring back to the tech room so they could set it up before the Games' began. She only had enough time to make a quick french toast for herself and her _chérie_. She felt bad for the light breakfast for Wraith, but Natalie is a bit short on time since the tech room was quite a distance away. She hurriedly cleaned her mouth out and took some eggs and butter out of her fridge. Natalie sets up a pan on the stove, putting on medium heat. She grabs a bowl and breaks three eggs into it, throwing the shells away in the garbage. She sprinkles a bit of salt and a reasonable amount of sugar into the bowl, mixing them all together. Next, Natalie butters up the pan, and then covers both sides of a slice of bread with the eggs. She sets the slice of bread down on the pan, and does that to four other slices. Two for her, and three for her _chérie_.

Natalie adds the finishing touch once all the slices were toasted, putting powdered sugar on top. Natalie grabs the maple syrup and squeezes a little bit on one of the bread slices, eating the slice as she packaged three in a container for Wraith. She quickly made her way out, the second slice hanging from her mouth as she made her way down the stairs just left of her dorm room. She knocks onto the first door on her left, patiently waiting for Wraith to open up. Natalie stuffs the slice of bread in her mouth and quickly chews it so she could speak.

"Wraiiiith," she calls out with a few knocks on the door. "Wake up _chérie_!"

It was almost 8am, she heard footsteps shuffling back and forth above her head and below her feet. Breakfast was being served soon, so every legend was making their way down to the first floor to wait at the lobby until the cafeteria opens up. Natalie knocks at the door for another minute before finally leaving it.

" _Pas ici_? _Peut-être en pratique_?"

Natalie shuffled her way downstairs to the second floor, turning the hatch open and finding Wraith shooting at every target.

"Wraith!" Natalie shouted, causing the skirmisher to stop and look at her. Natalie steps closer, setting the container down on the rail and taking ahold of Wraith's hands. The blonde unravels the gauze and finds Wraith's knuckles a shade of blue and purple. Wraith's left hand worse than her right. "What are you doing!? You should let your hands rest! Why does your left hand look worse?"

"Don't worry about it," Wraith said, pulling her hands away. Natalie just takes Wraith's hands back into her own again, gently massaging the skirmisher's knuckles.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asks, noticing the different atmosphere Wraith was giving off.

"Nothing," Wraith said, pulling her hands away again, earning a sat pout from Natalie. "What do you want?"

Natalie twiddled her fingers together, a little anxious now since she knows Wraith is in a sour mood. She grabs the container, lifting the lid off to show the inside to Wraith. "I... brought you breakfast..."

"Oh," Wraith said guiltily, taking the container from Natalie's hands. "Thanks."

Wraith sits down on a small bench, picking up the slice of bread. "Sorry," she begins. "Rough morning."

Natalie sits down next to her, her eyes fixated on Wraith's purple knuckles. "It's alright, I know you're not a morning person."

They sat there, a comfortable silence. Wraith ate the slices of french toast, enjoying each bite with the powdered sugar. Again, Wraith compliments Natalie's cooking, but this time, Natalie fully accepted it. The french toast she made this morning was perfect, a dish she could proudly and confidently present to her _ange_.

"Hey," Natalie began, staring down at her feet.

"Hm?"

"About yesterday... I thought it over when I was adjusting the ring."

Wraith puts the lid back on to the container once she was done eating all the bread, giving the container back to Natalie. "And?"

"I'll do whatever it takes to help you, even if it means being banned from the one place I've been close to for years."

Wraith smile and nodded, "good. I'll tell you the details after the Games."

Natalie went to grab Wraith's hand again, but hesitated, pulling her hand away. The skirmisher looks at the defender, a tired smile on her face. "You can grab my hand. I won't pull away this time, I promise."

Natalie took Wraith's hands, rubbing her knuckles again. The blonde sighs, bringing Wraith's hands up to kiss it again. "Dolt."

Wraith giggles. "Sorry, sorry. I'll be more careful from now on, alright? After the Games, no more secrets. I'll tell you everything. I feel bad for yesterday."

Natalie shook her head, bringing Wraith's hand up again to kiss it once more. "It's fine, really. I overstepped, I shouldn't have asked too many personal questions."

Wraith took a deep breath, her gaze turned to Natalie, the defender staring into her milky eyes. Natalie cupped Wraith's bruised cheek, the color of purple now. Her thumb smoothed over the surface of Wraith's skin, slowly rubbing her cheek. The defender inches closer, planting a kiss on Wraith's bruised cheek. The skirmisher smiled, her cheeks a faint tint of pink. They stayed there, sitting, enjoying each other's company, their eyes locked on to each other. The moment being broken when the announcement came on.

" **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The cafeteria is now open, you may now pick up and order food.** "

Natalie stands up from the bench, the container tucked under her arm, she turns to Wraith. "I have to go to the tech room to bring the ring over."

"Alright, I'll stay here and-"

"No!" Natalie interrupted. "Your knuckles, remember? Don't hurt them anymore than you already have. I want you to go see Ajay so she can fix you up."

Wraith nodded, leaving out the door with Natalie. Natalie looked on both sides of the hallway, telling Wraith goodbye and giving the older brunette another kiss on the cheek. The skirmisher just nodded while hiding her face in her scarf, listening to Natalie's command to go see Ajay. Except the doctor was downstairs eating breakfast with the other legends. Natalie has already gone up the stairs to get the renewed ring, leaving Wraith alone in the hallway. The interdimensional skirmisher just sighs, heavy footsteps going down the stairs as she goes to find Ajay, who was sitting with Makoa, Elliott, and Pathfinder.

Pathfinder spotting her first, he points at her with a "look!" making the other legends turn as their mouth hangs wide open.

"WRAITH?!" They all shouted, causing the other legends in seperate tables turn towards her direction.

"Aye brotha, come here," Makoa stood up, his arms stretched out, approaching Wraith for a bear hug. He squeezes her, lifting her off her feet since Wraith is too small for him. Wraith wheezed, Makoa letting her go with a sheepish "sorry."

"It's nice to see you again Wraith," Ajay said, taking a bite of her scrambled eggs and ham.

"Buddy ole' Wraithy!" Elliott said, walking toward Wraith with his signature finger guns. "How's it going? You hungry?"

Wraith crossed her arms. "No. And I'm fine," Wraith smiles, looking at all of them. "I'll admit, I missed you guys."

Ajay dropped her fork, both her and Elliot expressions change from their casual face to a surprised one. Elliott places his hand on Wraith's shoulder, causing the skirmisher to turn to him.

"You feeling alright? Ajay could like... help you out," Elliott awkwardly points at Ajay.

Wraith shakes him off, sighing. "I came here for Ajay, I need her to look at my knuckles."

"What happened to your hands brotha?" Makoa pointed.

Wraith tried hiding her hands in her arms, crossing her arms closer to her chest now. "That's not important," she says, making the two legends back off from her. "I'll wait at the infirmary."

Ajay swallowed before she spoke, "hey wait!"

The skirmisher stopped in her tracks, looking back at the healer.

"Come, sit down, there's enough time. When's the last time you've eaten?" Ajay motions her hand for Wraith to come over, patting on the empty seat next to her.

"I miss talking to my best friend, Wraith," Pathfinder comments, his screen showing a sad face.

"I've already-" Wraith stops, realizing her mistake.

Shit.

_They know now._

"Oh." Ajay says. "Natalie already brought you breakfast? I didn't see her..."

"Maybe she slipped through the crowd and we didn't notice," Makoa shrugged.

Ajay shrugged too. "Well, it's nice of her regardless for caring about you."

"Uh-huuhhh~" Elliott smirks, winking at Wraith. "Yeahhh, sooo nice of Natalie for being the greatest friend ever."

Makoa sits back down on the table chowing down a big sandwich. "Ah Natalie, a ray of light we don't deserve. What a great girl she is," Makoa smiles as he lightly shakes his head. "Honestly Wraith, you're lucky someone cares about you so much. Especially since that someone is very special. Natalie's got the heart of gold, and I hope that you let her in one day if you don't prefer us."

"Yeah, I..." Wraith trails off, struggling to find the correct words. "I'm lucky to count her as a trusted friend."

Elliott coughs obnoxiously, earning a punch on the shoulder from Ajay, which he quickly rubs at. "Sorry," he says. "Dry throat."

Wraith knew that was a lie.

_He knows._

"Aight sugah, let me see those hands," Ajay said, extending her hands out for Wraith to set on. Wraith places her palms on Ajay's, in which the younger red head gently rubs at her knuckles. "Mm, nothing serious darling, just put some ice on it for a few minutes and it'll shrink soon. You don't have a bone fracture, but punchin' a few more things will."

"That's it? Just ice?" Wraith questions.

Ajay nodded, collecting more scrambled eggs and a bit of ham with her fork. "Just for a few minutes."

"Why not join us for today?" Makoa patted at the empty seat right next to Ajay.

"Oh, I don't-"

"It's been a while since I've last seen my best friend hang out with me," Pathfinder's screen put on a sad face again. "You aren't avoiding me are you?"

"No, no! Of course not Path," Wraith awkwardly laughs, pulling up the chair between Ajay and Path. "I will never avoid you, you are my best friend after all." Wraith tilted her head and playfully punched Pathfinder's shoulder, whose screen immediately changed to a happy face. She wasn't fully lying, but she wasn't fully honest either. Pathfinder is a friend of Wraith, and she wasn't avoiding him, but at the same time, he isn't her best friend, and she was avoiding all contact.

"Yo Wraith," Anita nodded her head as a greeting, moving up to the groups table with a tray on her hands. "You guys mind if I join you?"

"Not at all brotha!"

Anita smirked, setting her tray aside. "Been awhile since I last saw you come down here. You know what I miss?"

Wraith sighed, pushing her bangs aside. "You really wanna do this?"

"Hell yeah, test of strength! Come on! It's been too long!" Anita puts her elbow on the table, waiting for Wraith to take the arm wrestle challenge.

Wraith rolled her eyes, smiling, she takes Anita's right hand with her own, both woman struggling with their might trying to get the other to lose. The entire table shouting "go!" repeatedly. Anita put on more pressure, slowly bringing Wraith's hand closer to the table. Wraith gritted her teeth, gathering up hidden strength to bring her hand back at the middle. The group getting excited at how close it was.

Anita exhales through her teeth, "damn skirmisher, been hitting the gym or what the hell?"

Wraith scoffs, "is that a joke? I haven't done anything. Looks like you just got weaker." Wraith smirks, bringing Anita's hand closer to the table. The older soldier struggling to move her hand back up, until Wraith slams Anita's hand onto the table, securing her victory. The group shouts in excitement and laughter. Anita shakes her hand then rubs at her fingers.

"Fuck," the soldier curses, then laughs. "Hey Wraith."

Wraith turns to Anita.

"I miss you. It's good to have you back."

Wraith tittered, "you're just saying that because you're bored."

"No one can take my rival's place, Blothhundr doesn't make things fun."

A knife was thrown at Anita's direction, just barely whiffing past the soldier's hair. The group turned towards the direction the knife flew from, Blothhundr sitting at a table-for-one at the farthest corner.

"Sorry," Anita waved at them. Blothhundr looking back down at the table as Artur eats.

"Got thirty-five left, better finish up quick," Ajay pointed her fork at Anita's food before popping more eggs and ham into her mouth. "Especially since you eat a little more than me."

"I need the proteins for my arms. And you Wraith? You're not eating?" Anita dives into her smoked salmon bagle.

Wraith was about to speak until Elliott beat her to it. "She's already eaten with Natalie."

"Not with, Natalie just took a tray to Wraith's room," Makoa glared at him for not getting the facts right, the giant caring about the rules.

"I have detected malnutrition on my best friend Wraith. The symptoms list as below; lack of appetite or interest in food or drink, tiredness and irritability, inability to concentrate,-"

"Path-"

"-always feeling cold, loss of fat, muscle mass, and body tissue, higher risk of-"

"Path."

"-getting sick and taking longer to heal, longer healing time for wounds-"

"Path!" Wraith snapped, making the robot turn to her as his screen showed some question marks. "It's alright, I'm fine."

"Foods open right now if you need it, you don't have to pretend that you're full," the giant rips a piece of his sandwich off, bringing it over to Wraith. "If you're hungry, it's better to eat now before you collapse in the games."

Ajay nodded, "it's a real thing, you _can_ collapse from not eating much, even if it's just a few hours."

"Can't have my rival sleeping on the job of hunting me down," Anita commented.

"I care about your health, friend, and this isn't good for you," Pathfinder's screen changed to a sad face.

The entire group looked at Elliott, who was confused for a second but then realize it was his turn to speak. "Oh! Shit, uh- uh... uhhh..."

Wraith takes the piece of sandwich from Makoa, eyeing at Elliott as she waits for the stupid shit he's trying to come up with. "So you see," he begins, before he drags it on with a fake story to have the other legends pity him for putting him on the spot. Ajay rolled her eyes and told him to shut up, the trickster zipping his lips with his hands before going back to his mac n cheese.

"You heard the robot, if you have malnutrition, don't put up a strong phase, nobody here thinks you're weak. We want you to take care of yourself, Wraith," Ajay put her hand on Wraith's shoulder, a comforting gesture to let the other know that it's okay.

"Ye brotha, you're family after all."

_Family..._

"Family?" Wraith questions.

"Does this make Wraith my sister?" Pathfinder asks.

"Not literal Path," Elliott sighs.

Pathfinder's screen showed a broken heart, Wraith noticing immediately. "Don't listen to him Path, I'll be your sister," Wraith gives the sad robot a smile to reassure him.

The robot's screen rapidly turning into a heart with a happy face. "Woo-hoo!"

Ajay chuckled, "how cute. The skirmisher? Caring?"

Wraith cringes, hiding part of her face in her scarf, Ajay wafts a hand at her. "I jest sugah."

"Better eat if you want to defeat me," the soldier says, flexing her strong arms.

Wraith took a deep breath, taking a bite of Makoa's sandwich he split for her. "Thanks," Wraith says, catching everyone's attention now. She pulls up her scarf to hide her cheeks for the next thing she was about to say. "For not uh- giving... up on me with my behavior. I know I've been avoiding all of you, I was just..."

"Concfitted? Con-conclited? Conc....," Elliott tried, before Ajay angrily finished for him.

"Conflicted!"

Wraith looked over at Elliott, "what?"

"Why don't you ask the robot?" Elliott points to Pathfinder, who now realized everyone was staring at him.

"Oh no," the robot said with semi-enthusiasm.

Wraith was puzzled, conflicted? Wherever did Path get that idea?

"Well," the robot begins. "During the last Apex Games', I refreshed the data of every legend as usual before we took off. Wraith's status of last week compared to two weeks have changed. Rather than serious-confident, I have found confliction and stress."

"Is that why she's been doing a shitty job destroying us?" Anita questions, still eating her salmon bagel.

"I can not confirm that myself, but it could be a reason," Pathfinder says.

"So," Elliott starts, smirking, seeing through Wraith. "What were you confitted- conclitted- uh-"

"Conflicted," Ajay finishes for him again.

"That," he says while pointing towards Ajay. "About? Hm? Buddy ole' Wraithy~" he pouts and bats his eyelashes.

"Die," Wraith snarled.

The speakers crackled, catching everyone's attention. " **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The Apex Games will now begin in fifteen minutes! Get into your assigned squads to face off in the arena!** "

Wraith uses this to get up from the table, not wanting to stick around Elliott anymore. She sees Blothhundr moving towards the dropship, they're always first to be there before Wraith and Natalie. Wraith decides to walk with them, seeing that Natalie isn't here yet, and also the fact Wraith could really use a professional person who didn't bother her like the others did. Not like Ajay, Makoa, or Pathfinder bothered her, but, she still gets easily irritated. "Hound," Wraith half-greeted, looking up at the raven perched on their shoulder. "Artur."

"A legend worth greeting, good day to you Wraith," the raven saying their greeting as well with a "caw" sound. "Are you feeling better?"

"How so?" Wraith asks, both of them hanging at the lounge area of the dropship. Blothhundr took their usual spot, the arm couch, which they filled the cracks of the seat of with their collection of knives. Wraith leaned her back on the wall, just beside the lounge area.

"I've been watching you during the Games, as always, I take notes of how you move. I've been very impressed with your work, even learned some things from you, maybe I've been copying your movements from time to time," Blothhundr admitted. "However, I am disappointed in your drop of skill from the last two games."

"I promise it won't happen again."

"You better hang onto that promise, I don't want to lose again."

Wraith nodded, a comfortable silence hanging over them. Wraith didn't know why she was comfortable around Blothhundr, if there was a reason, the reason would probably be that Hound didn't talk very much. They exchanged little words to each other for the three seasons, but both legends respected one-another. They also work compatibly well, even with no communication skills, they both know when and how to push their enemies and turn them into dust. They are an unstoppable duo, becoming the unstoppable team for season three. The only thing that broke that chain was Wraith not being able to focus because she kept thinking about that damned smile from Natalie.

They waited there until the last reminder came in. " **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The Apex Games will begin in five minutes! Get into your assigned squads for the season.** "

Every team came in one after another, Anita's team already standing on their launcher. Wraith and Blothhundr moved over to the launcher as well, both of them getting worried about Natalie's late arrival. The defender was never late, or at least, she wasn't as close to the clock as this.

 _"Well, the Games are going, which means she delivered the ring"_ Wraith thought.

There was only two minutes left, every squad was standing on their respective launcher, Wraith watched as the clock ticked down. She paces back and forth on the launcher before a rush of footsteps came from the entrance. Natalie came into the room, standing next to Wraith on the launcher, breathing heavily. " _Bon_... _bonjour_ ," she heaved.

"What took you so long?" Bloodhound asked.

"Sorry!" Natalie nervously laughed, making Wraith's heart jump around. "I brought my new and improved pylon for today!" Natalie takes the pylon from her back to show it off but Bloodhound quickly dismissed it as the dropship was already moving to World's Edge. The young blonde pouting that nobody cared about the one thing she thought was cool.

"What's new about it?" Wraith asks.

This brought Natalie a smile on her face. "Oh! Actually, why don't I show you right now? Could you land in Skyhook for me?"

Wraith nodded, the launcher now sinking down so that every legend can jump off from the ship. They began just North of Refinery, Wraith pinpointing Skyhook on the map. She was Jumpmaster, Blothhundr launched solo, wanting to fly faster and land quicker. Wraith looked around if anybody else was coming, but it looks like every team went for Capitol City since it was the hot spot.

"Wraith! Watch me, watch me!" Natalie excitedly shouted as she uses her pylon as a propeller, spewing out electricity while the machine spun around. "Woo-hoooo!" Natalie laughed.

Wraith couldn't help but smile at Natalie's cuteness, how the younger woman was having fun at the Games. Wraith dipped and dived, waving up and down in the air to reach the destination faster. Wattson just barely seperating to the building next to Wraith's. Wraith finds a P2020 and useless attachments for guns she doesn't have yet, a level 2 body shield, a level 1 helmet, and ammo. She grabbed some heavy and light ammo, asking for a backpack through the COMM. Bloodhound pinged a backpack from across the map, Wraith dibbing it and moving her way towards it. The ring looked like it was going to end up on Drill Site, not a bad place for fights. Anything is better than Train Yard, and while Wraith did enjoy fights, she couldn't stand the pure frustration Train Yard gave with the amount of teams that comes through the cave for the loot vault. Train Yard was also terrible with finding good cover, which was bad for Wattson as her pylon is useless in that area.

After a minute and a half of looting, the ring was closing in thirty seconds. The team took their time looting, since nobody else landed with them, and the next ring had the bottom buildings of Skyhook, so they didn't have to run far at all. Wattson pinpointed the incoming train, Bloodhound saying "ok." But then Wattson pinpointed an enemy, alerting both Bloodhound and Wraith to run over to Wattson's location as soon as possible.

"Taking fire!" Natalie shouted through the COMM.

Bloodhound takes out their Charge Rifle, getting a shot at Caustic who was on the second floor. They made Caustic retreat inside to recharge, and then they spotted Pathfinder poking their head out.

"Got them," Bloodhound breathed, shooting more bullets off their Charge Rifle. "Caustic is recharging, him and Pathfinder have level 3 body armor. Pathfinder is cracked, his health is low."

"Got it, I'm attacking them here!" Wraith says, dashing around the building to the back to surprise attack the team in an unsuspected side. She finds Caustic about to throw down his gas tank, but she shoots him down before he gets to throw it. "One's down."

Wattson pushed through the front of the building, toting her Peacekeeper. "Firing!"

Bloodhound puts their Charge Rifle away, pushing through the front with Wattson with their Devotion. They used their ability, scanning where Pathfinder was at specifically. They charge in, helping Wattson out on taking out Pathfinder.

"Another one down," Wattson says, catching her breath as she recharges her shield.

"Where's the last one?" Wraith asks, standing midway on the stairs, her head over the railing to look at Wattson crouching at the corner. Wattson shrugs, saying she hasn't seen anyone else.

"It's Octane, he usually leaves his team to go by himself. He could be around, keep your eyes open," Bloodhound says, looting Pathfinder's death box.

"Okay," Wattson says, searching the box too but immediately leaving since nothing inside was important to her.

Wraith went back up to search Caustic's box, finding energy and heavy ammo. She pings the energy ammo for Hound, who came running up to take it. They thank her, Wraith just whispering out a "you're welcome" when they were looting next to her. "Ultimate accelerant here," Wraith says, catching Wattson's attention.

"Anyone needs shield cells? I have too much," Hound says, going through their inventory.

"I could use some," Wattson says, raising her hand, making Hound drop some for her and she thanks them.

" **Attention, ring closing.** "

"Come on, let's search the last remaining buildings and go to Lava Fissure," Hound puts their Devotion aside, making their way down, Wraith following behind them. Wattson sorted out her optics first before following behind Wraith. After they came into contact on the first building that was in the next ring, they all split up, looting on their own to fasten the pace.

"Wattson, do you need more shotgun shells?" Wraith asks through the COMM, Wattson crackling through with a yes. Wraith pinged it for her, and she dibs it, saying she'll pick it up in a minute. Wraith leaves the building to go search another, and then another, finally catching up to Hound who was waiting on the roof of the building at the very edge of Skyhook, just West of it. They were looking through their scope of their Charge Rifle, looking to see if enemies are already compromising their next location.

"Rings closing in," Hound said, clearly sounding impatient for Wattson who took her time looting.

"Coming!"

"Let's start moving," Hound jumps off the building, putting their Charge Rifle away as they land harshly. Thankfully no one takes fall damage.

Gunshots were heard coming from Lava Fissure and Train Yard. The ring had just began to move, making Train Yard be unavailable. Only Wraith and Hound had a level 3 bodyshield, Wattson had a level 2. If they were to face a team that came from Train Yard, chances are, they're fully equipped with level 3 or even 4. Hound wanted to avoid them until Wattson had a better bodyshield. Wraith looked inside a building in Drill Site, finding nothing in it. They were on the outer top houses of Drill Site, Bloodhound slowly making their way to Lava Fissure, checking where the gunshots is coming from. Wraith leaves out the building and jumps over a railing, opening up a loot bin that hasn't been opened yet. She pings a Turbocharger that Hound immediately dibs.

"I hear somebody!" Wattson says, pinpointing an enemy just behind her. "Engaging the enemy!"

"Copy that," Wraith says, staying calm, she heads over to Wattson who was hiding behind a rock. "Hound, go get the Turbocharger, I'll help her out."

"Ok."

"Who is it?" Wraith asks, taking a peek at the side of the rock but quickly pulled back as a bullet hit the rock.

"Octane, it might be the same Octane who's with Caustic and Pathfinder."

"Let's push through, I'm taking a risk that he's alone," Wraith pulls out her trusted R-99, zig zagging to the wall Octane was hiding behind, Wattson following behind her. Wraith aims down at Octane, hitting all of her shots, but with no light magazine, it wasn't enough damage. She switches to her Wingman, jumping side to side, crouching every two seconds, making Octane struggle to hit a single shot. Wraith fires at him, hitting the last remaining shot she needed. He was knocked down, but not defeated. Wattson just came around the corner, looking at Octane who was already down.

"Hear anyone else?" Wattson asks, but Wraith shakes her head.

"Just him, it looks like. Must be the Octane who left his team... as usual."

Octane shows off his level 4 knockdown shield, laughing. "You got me good! That was fun!"

Wattson puts her Peacekeeper away, cracking her knuckles. "May I?"

"Go ahead."

Wattson performs her finisher, throwing down her fence and shocking Octane to death. She bends down with a sarcastic surprised face, Octane's deathbox spawning out of thin air. Wraith chuckled, "serves him right."

"Their team has the most terrible composition, I feel bad for Dr. Caustic. I can relate to him on being on the same team with Octane," the blonde shudders, the most memorable bad memory was when Octane threw his jump pad and went straight into a party of grenades into the Bunker and started a fight by himself so Wattson and Bangalore were forced to help, but the team was easily defeated. Of course, they were easily destroyed by Wraith's team, who survived every grenade and squads after squads both up the stairs and down, and still came out of Bunker alive to fight the last four squads.

"I feel bad for Path," Wraith said, taking some shield cells before leaving the death box.

"Anything useful that I would need?" Hound asks.

"Light ammo and syringes, that's it," Wattson answers them.

"Hmph, hurry up and get behind me, I see a team in the distance."

"Copy that, who are the teams?" Wraith asks.

"Hard to say, they're too far for my scope, we'll just have to get closer."

Wraith made her way to the building Hound was staying at, just at the edge of Lava Fissure, both of them looking at the same direction, just South of Lava Fissure, where the jumptower was located with a respawn location. Wattson ran past their building, running through to loot the empty buildings.

" **Attention, the kill leader has been eliminated**."

Wraith and Hound looked at each other, both of them bringing their wrist up to look at the kill feed. Bangalore just eliminated Crypto, who was the previous kill leader. Now Bangalore has six kills, her squad were fighting against Mirage's.

"I cannot wait until the two of you battle, it is always amusing to watch," Bloodhound comments.

"We'll just have to see if she survives as the last squad."

Bloodhound tittered, turning their back on Wraith to join Wattson on looting the circular buildings. "She always survives, her determination to fight you is inspiring."

Wraith was a little anxious to fight her, she was confident since she seems to be back to her old self, most likely due to the fact that she confessed her feelings to Natalie, which the younger blonde reciprocated. Wraith is afraid of messing up again at the end of the game, she's afraid of thinking about Natalie's dorky, adorable smile. But it's Natalie's bangs and scar that tug Wraith's heartstrings.

_Pay attention._

Right, she's in the arena right now.

And Bangalore is looking for her.

"Wraith?" Wattson says through the COMM. "The ring is moving in thirty, you coming?"

Wraith looks at her map, seeing that her teammates were in the twin peaks between Lava Fissure and Drill Site. "Yeah," she says, going through the void to quickly make her way to her team. Bloodhound pinpointed Bangalore's squad, who was still fighting the two remaining members of Mirage's squad. Bloodhound was shooting Lifeline and Mirage, making sure to ignore Bangalore herself to leave for Wraith.

"Mirage is low, Lifeline is down," Bloodhound runs towards the building Mirage is using for cover, they use their ultimate. "I BATHE IN THE BLOTH!" Animalistic sounds erupting from their body as they run at an incredible speed inside the building, Wraith and Wattson following closely behind. Bloodhound finishes off Mirage, making Wraith and Bangalore be the last remaining squads. Both teams duked it out as usual, the two outer teammates battled each other while Wraith and Bangalore idled by.

Wattson going around the back, taking cover behind a blue cargo with her Wingman in hand, shooting at Gibraltar. Gibraltar threw his ultimate, in which Natalie immediately puts her pylon down to counter it, Bloodhound standing by to stay safe. It was Wattson and Bloodhound, against Gibraltar and another Bloodhound. The Games is known to use copies of the same legends, though a different look and personality, usually meaning the legend in past or post years. The ability at how the Syndicate does it is unknown, but Wraith doesn't like seeing herself when she just barely made it out of the IMC Detention Facility, and she's incredibly lucky no one has asked about it.

Wattson broke Gibraltar's gun shield, hitting two shots on him as he tried running away. She runs towards the house Peacekeeper in hand, just needing one more shot to kill him. The enemy Bloodhound ignored her, paying attention to their own opponent. Bloodhound was snipping them from behind the blue cargo, abusing Wattson's pylon for five shields per second. They almost went down when the enemy Bloodhound got a lucky headshot, but they quickly crouched to recharge. They heard them coming towards the blue cargo. Bloodhound immediately pulls out their Devotion and both of them get into a fury of bullets, impaling through each other's armor as both of them got each other down at the same time.

Wattson chased after Gibraltar, who was blocking the back door with his body, recharging shields. Wattson kicks the door down, shooting her shotgun as Gibraltar used the L-Star. The fight was close, Wattson almost dying with seven health left, but she got Gibraltar down, feeling proud of herself for once. The game was left with just Bangalore, who stood on the edge of the roof the entire time, staring down at Wraith. Wraith stood just outside the door of a seperate building, their eyes locked onto each other, waiting for the duel to begin. Bangalore drops down, dropping all her loot on the floor, Wraith doing the same thing. This is what they did, this is what they do now. For every game Bangalore makes it to the end, she faces off against Wraith, her one and only rival. Bangalore stretched her arms and legs, cracking her neck and knuckles.

"It's time Wraith," Bangalore smirked.

Wattson was in the back, picking up Bloodhound so they can watch the fight. Gibraltar had a level 4 knockdown shield, they too picked up their own Bloodhound so everyone can watch the duel. The two teams have come to a compromise of their own rules if they were to face off in the end. It was only between them, but other legends who've lost the match tends to spectate to see who wins, catching on to what the two teams were thinking. It was cheating to the Apex Games, but the other legends enjoyed it, how two of the top three legends fight each other.

Wraith stepped closer to Bangalore, the ring moving smaller behind both teams. Their teammates close by, watching, waiting. Until when the ring stopped moving, that's when Bangalore ran up to Wraith with an uppercut, Wraith just barely dodging it to the side with how quick Bangalore caught her by surprise. Wraith jumps towards her with a jump kick, Bangalore grabbing her leg and throwing her at the ground, getting a free easy punch. Bangalore didn't give Wraith a chance to stand up and recover, the soldier quickly went for a flurry of punches, Wraith quickly tilting to either side to avoid getting hit. Bringing up her fist from below, Wraith got a hit on Bangalore's stomach, causing the soldier to cough. Both of them jumped back, gaining some distance, both slowly moving to the right, looking at each other, their fists out, waiting for a chance to strike. Wraith took a second to get a glance at Natalie for hidden strength, and Bangalore used the opening to her advantage.

"Pay attention to me!" She yells, throwing punches at Wraith, which Wraith blocks with her hands and twists Bangalore's arms, causing the soldier having to move the same direction to avoid having her arm twisted. Wraith uses the chance to kick her, getting a hit in. "Using dirty tricks I see, how disappointing."

"You did it first," Wraith wiped the drool off her lips from the first punch Bangalore did.

Bangalore laughed, quickly getting serious again, she ran towards Wraith. She goes for a overhand, which Wraith was going to dodge, until Bangalore switches it up quickly and brings her foot up from the side, kicking Wraith's ribs. Wraith hacks, Bangalore quickly followed it up with another punch, hitting Wraith square in the face, the same cheek Bangalore left a bruise on. Wraith fell over to the side, the duel not being over yet, she quickly stands up, dodging Bangalore's fists. She couldn't take another hit or she'd lose. Blood streamed down Wraith's nostril, her lips were chapped and bleeding, the skirmisher smirks at the soldier. Bangalore's eyes went wide when Wraith brought her head down at Bangalore's unexpectedly to the soldier. The soldier stumbles back, holding onto her head with her hand, grunting, cursing under her breath. Wraith runs to get the last hit in, both legends just one hit away from being down, but Bangalore quickly saw through it, grabbing Wraith's wrist and twisting it. The skirmisher winced, not caring if her wrist gets sprained. She uses the same hand that Bangalore is holding onto to suddenly grab the soldier's collar, confusing Bangalore. Wraith pulls with all her might and bangs her forehead at Bangalore's head again, getting the last strike in and making the soldier go down. Wraith stumbles backward and falls on her back, almost losing consciousness.

The duel ended with Wraith as the victor, Bangalore crawls outside the ring, her teammates doing the same. "Nice, you're back to your senses. That was a close fight. Now you really got my adrenaline pumpin'! I'll see you next week, rival."

The Games' ended, Wraith's team being the champion squad. She heard Natalie squeal in excitement, but the squeal was a little muffled. Natalie and Hound stood over her, pulling her up. The world began to spin, making Wraith feel sick on her stomach. A HUD appeared before them all, all of them able to see their kills and damage. Wraith was on top, with barely over 500 damage since they didn't fight that many teams. She had three kills, Hound had one, Wattson had one as well. They did good regardless, as expected of the team with two of them being the top three feared legends. Wraith stumbles onto Hound, in which they catch her and carefully set Wraith back on her feet.

"Stay with us _chérie_ , you'll be at the infirmary soon," Wattson was rubbing Wraith's back in an attempt to soothe the older brunette to get well.

"You fought well, I am delighted to have witness yet another fearsome battle from you. I hope we are of different teams next season so that I am able to test you out myself," Hound patted Wraith's back.

Wraith hung her head low, feeling weaker, the blood on her nose gushing out. "Yeah...," she weakly says, feeling out of it.

"Hound, help me set her down as the dropship comes for us."

Hound nodded, both of them gently setting the skirmisher on the dirt, the skirmisher's eyelids only half-open. Natalie knelt down beside Wraith, wiping the blood away with her gloves. "I'm proud of you _chérie_."

Wraith couldn't control her eyelids, closing ever so slowly as she's slowly losing her vision. She tried her best to keep them open but to no avail, Wraith eventually passes out.

The dropship comes by a few minutes later, the rear end opening up for the legends to walk up to. Hound helped Natalie carry Wraith inside, making sure they set her up right onto the chair and buckled her up, both Legends sitting next to the unconscious teammate. When they eventually headed back, Ajay quickly ran in with a gurney once the dropship landed inside the Legends' ship. Ajay asks the two for help to place Wraith on top of the gurney, where Ajay carefully straps the woman so she wouldn't fall off as she's transported to the infirmary. Natalie was upset, upset that Wraith was unconscious and injured yet _again_ , but more so upset that they might miss their date. Bloth watches as Wraith is taken away before turning to Natalie.

"Do not worry, she'll be fine. She's the type to hide wounds after all. By the time she wakes up, she'll jump out of that bed," they crossed their arms, leaving the dropship first.

Natalie took a minute before going up the sixth floor, where the infirmary was located. She looked through the small square window of the double doors, witnessing Ajay do her magic. Natalie decided to wait out on the chairs in front of the door, the blonde removing her headpiece, revealing her short, puffy, messy hair. She shook her head, her scalp was hot and stuffy the entire match, it felt nice for her hair to finally be free. How long Natalie sat there is unknown, but she knows she didn't wait too long, Ajay opening the doors after about ten minutes.

"Oh, Natalie, you here to check on Wraith?"

Natalie nodded, standing up now.

"Um," Ajay closes the door for a second. "She's resting now, but with the two blows to the head, I'm not sure if Wraith and Anita have a concussion. I'll have to wait and see until they both wake up and note their symptoms. Though I'm sure they have a concussion. I ask that you don't socialize with Wraith too much, she needs a lot of rest. The Games will have to unfortunately post-pone if these two don't recover by next week."

"Oh..."

"You can go in, go on, I know you care for her. Wraith is one lucky girl to have you as a friend," Ajay giggles, moving out of the way, walking down the hallway as she removes her blue nitrile gloves.

Natalie pushed the door open, going to the left side of the room where she last saw Wraith. She pushed the curtains aside, stepping closer to Wraith's end of the bed. She closes the curtains for privacy, going to one side to stand next to Wraith's sleeping body. She pulls a nearby stool to sit on, making sure she doesn't make any noise. Natalie takes ahold of Wraith's hand, gently bringing it up to her face to kiss her red, sore, bleeding knuckles.

" _Idiote_ ," she whispers, a tear escaping her eye. She couldn't help but smile, chuckling to herself. The dumb actions Wraith did has completely ruined their plans, but it didn't matter very much, so long as Wraith is still around. " _Si belle, même quand tu dors..._ "

Natalie sighs, shaking her head, pouting. She moves her tongue around the inside of her cheeks, the taste of her mouth becoming sour as tears wouldn't stop falling down now. Natalie wipes her eyes with her free hand, sniffling. "Like I said," Natalie smiles down at Wraith, whose sleeping peacefully. "I'm with you Wraith."

. . .


	6. Closer

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 21 minutes

. . .

Wraith groans, her eyelids flutter as she gains consciousness. The last thing she remembered was beating Anita in their usual duel, but she was reckless about it. Wraith tried sitting up, groaning loudly as the pain on her right rib hurt like hell. She looked around the room, it was slightly spinning and she was confused. The room was too dark to see, Wraith could only rely on the dim light of the moonlight. She tried lifting her head up but gave herself a headache in doing so. Wraith laid there, until she heard a muffled snore. She lifted her head up, not caring if the headache got worse, and there she saw, Natalie sleeping next to her feet. Wraith tried reaching out to the blonde, but her wrist hurt from Anita's grasp earlier. There was a distant pain she could hardly feel, but it was painful nonetheless.

"Nat," Wraith slightly moves her leg to shake the sheet.

Natalie mumbled something in her language, Wraith couldn't understand what she said. "Nat," she tries again, moving her feet away to drag the sheet.

Natalie whined in her sleep, causing Wraith's heart to pound at the sudden cuteness.

"Nat."

Natalie slowly rose up, rubbing her eyes, she yawned and stretched. The defender's hair was loose from her usual arena clothes. It was puffy, some strands being curly while others were standing up. She looked beautiful in the night, how the moon shined on her blonde hair, Wraith could see every single messy strand.

"You're awake!" Natalie shouted, then remembering that Anita was sleeping nearby. She lowers her voice to a whisper, "how are you feeling?"

"Confused? And in pain," Wraith groaned, she rubbed her right hypochondrium to soothe the inner pain.

"Anything else?"

"No?" Wraith thought, she couldn't remember very much. She was in the arena, the Games, she remembers defeating Octane's team. She remember Natalie using her pylon as a propeller. She remembered Hound eagerly waiting for the duel between her and Bangalore, but the fight itself was a bit blurry.

"Ajay says your ribcage has taken no real damage, you'll just have temporary pain. She also said your right wrist is sprained," Natalie squeezed Wraith's right hand, careful not to move the wrist itself.

"That's good," Wraith mumbles. But then she remembered their plans, and the morning with Crypto. Wraith slightly moved and there it was, a pressure on her back pocket. She had to deliver the USB tonight. "What time is it?"

"It should be a little over past 10pm... why?" Natalie asks.

Wraith still had time to deliver the USB, she'll just have to wait until Natalie leaves the room for her to sneak out. Since the Syndicate is the one who built the Apex Games', it's most likely they had a base in World's Edge. If they didn't, however, Wraith wouldn't be able to port the USB in time. It takes days for the dropship to travel from one planet to another, the Legends all know this when everyone spent three days going from King's Canyon to World's Edge. But Crypto knew that, so to tell Wraith to deliver the USB tonight meant that there was a HQ in World's Edge. But could Crypto still be able to scan the area of King's Canyon on this planet? Or does he have other plans that Wraith is forced to do?

"Sorry, I messed up our plans with my stupid...," Wraith lightly shook her head, forgetting that she'll get the slightest headache if she moved. "Um, reckless... fight."

Natalie gave her a gentle smile, not like Wraith could see it anyway. "It's okay, we can move our plans to a later date, when you're feeling better."

"Sounds good, I'll let you know when I'm better, but for now, it's very late. You should go back to your dorm," Wraith really needed Natalie to leave the room so she could sneak out. She didn't want to test the hacker and the many secrets he can spread about the skirmisher.

"Are you sure? I can stay with you if you'd like some company."

Wraith shook her head, "I'll be fine, you need your rest."

Natalie let go of Wraith's hand, she stood up from the stool and pushed it back to where she took it from. "Alright," the defender whispers, bending down to press a kiss on the skirmisher's forehead. Thankfully for Wraith, it was too dark to see anything, so she didn't need to hide her blushing face. "Goodnight," Natalie says, closing the curtains surrounding Wraith's bed. Wraith wished her goodnight as well, waiting to hear the door close so she could sit up. She groaned and winced when her hypochondrium throbbed, but she had to endure it, the pain couldn't compare to what she felt when she was at the Detention Facility.

Wraith took the USB out of her back pocket, the device having a green glow to it. She sits up from the bed, enduring the pain of her ribcage, Wraith waited inside the infirmary for a couple of minutes. She didn't want to leave too early in case Natalie was still around the hallway. When about seven minutes have passed, Wraith pushed the double doors open, running down the steps as quietly as possible while holding onto her abdomen. She made her way down to the lobby, where Crypto's voice came through the USB.

"Make your way to the dropship."

Wraith passed by the large cafeteria, entering a back room that had a hallway that lead to the hangar where the dropship was located. Once in the room, she noticed the room was encased with a green light. Stepping closer, the rear end of the ship opened up for her, and she steps inside. Crypto was in the pilot seat, turning his head halfway to smirk at her.

"Well well, look who decided to finally show up," he looks back in front of him, pressing a button to close the rear. "You're late."

"I thought I was going alone?" Wraith raises her brow, buckling herself up on a seat beside the wall.

"You are, I'm just here to pilot you from point A to point B."

"And your computer?" Wraith's asks, crossing her arms.

Crypto flips a white device out of his pocket, which unfolded itself to a long horizontal line, projecting a green screen with a green keyboard. "I'm always prepared," he says, lifting the plane yoke for takeoff.

"Wouldn't they hear us taking the dropship?" Wraith tightly gripped on her chair as the ship was bumping due to speed increase.

"Muffled by my radius bot, you saw the green light in the room, correct? The bot is in the ship, the radius is the maximum range any noise can travel to." Crypto opens up the hatch of the hangar, the dropship rolling out of the ramp, lifting off into the air. The dropship bumped because of the speed of the dropship cutting through dense air at lower altitude. Crypto switches off from take-off power and into climb-power, reducing the plane's engine for smooth flying. Crypto relied on a sonar map for any incoming contact since not only was it too dark to see, but it was especially cloudy tonight, an indication that it would rain soon.

Wraith looked out the window just right next to her, but seeing how Talos has been deserted, there was no lights to be seen. Ever since the Repulsor attack on King's Canyon, Wraith has been contemplating on whether or not she should quit the Apex Games, since she's no longer near her original goal. There was two points why she joined the Games; to stay close to the Facility to find an entrance again once she was ready, and the other being if someone knew her, they would reach out to her and call her name. If anything, she just wanted to know her name... The many ideas of connections she might've had makes Wraith slightly giddy at the thought. She always wondered if she had a best friend whom she was close with, and what she did with that friend. What if she had a sibling? Maybe they were older, maybe they were younger. What if her mother was a kind woman, and her father was an intelligent handsome man?

_Don't do yourself like this, you're better than that._

Whatever life she had before is gone, left behind like ashes in the wind. Absolutely nothing has come up, no memory of her as a child, no memory of her name or family, what she did, what she wanted to be. The only thing that keeps coming up is her time at the Facility, how every doctor took note of her on their clipboard. Sometimes they'd frown at the results, others would grin wickedly. Wraith feared them, every second of the day, since there was no exact schedule. They could come in anytime they pleased, bringing in a cart of tools. A scalpel, needles, scissors, gauzes, etc,. She would always scream in agony, a cry for help that never reached anyone's ears. Doctors behind the glass window would all scribble down the event, her pain, her tears, her cries, her episodes. She'd get nausea, or a nosebleed, sometimes a specific part of her body felt like it was twisting itself, shredding itself apart for the duration of the entire day. Could Wraith even have a normal life anymore? With the start she's had? A start she couldn't let go of no matter how hard she tried. Her time at the Facility painfully scarred her memories forever...

Every single detail, every single day, every hour, every minute. Every second. She'd blink one second and then the next second, she's strapped onto a chair, ready for another drill. Her wrists would struggle at the binds, her circulation would cut off with how tight it was. She wasn't even safe in her own cell. Two men would come in wearing white suits and a gas mask, grabbing her by the arms and pulling her out of the ward. She would struggle, scratch and claw, trying to break free. But one of them would pull out a taser, shocking the voidwalker for a second before pulling away, making sure they don't kill her. She would go limp afterward, her mouth running with saliva as her entire body burned like the fires of hell. They would throw her body onto the concrete floor of the shower room, one of the men going over to turn the faucet on while the other worked on her clothes. Wraith has never felt more violated in her life. The faucet only ran on cold water, and the sprayed water itself was powerful, always leaving red marks on Wraith's skin.

She cried every night, never being able to sleep with the events she goes through on a daily basis. And then there were the voices she heard from time to time. Back then, she accepted the fact she was crazy, despite still feeling human. She accepted everything, she was afraid, and she hated all of it, but there was nothing she could do. Sometimes Wraith thought about escaping, but escaping alive wasn't possible. Sometimes she thought about overdosing on the prescription drugs she was given, sometimes she thought about running in front of an armed soldier. Once, just once, only for a second, Wraith had enough. She came close to picking up a pair of scissors, thinking about impaling her neck with it. Tears streamed down her face at the thought of it, the urge itself was _there_ , but she couldn't bring herself to do it. Thinking back, she hated herself for thinking about it, but deep down, she knew, if it weren't for the lucky chance she got to escape the Facility, she would've most likely been dead by now.

"Wraith."

Wraith snapped back into reality, she realized they weren't in the air anymore. She watched as Crypto turns to boot up his PC. He spins the chair around, looking at Wraith expectantly.

"Well?"

"Right," Wraith unbuckles herself from the seat, groaning a little at the pain of her right hypochondrium, double-checking to make sure she still had the USB. It was still in her back pocket, a minor relief. She walked out of the ramp, looking up at her destination, it was raining dead-set in the night. Her objective was a large concrete building with spotlights at the top of the tower flashing down at the two entrances. She spotted a few security guards patrolling the outer walls with a gun in their arms, flashing their flashlight left and right. They would walk straightforward until they reached the corner, looking out to the other guard across the other side of the same wall before turning back to the entrance to do the same thing. Their pace was slow, and Wraith spotted a brief window to sneak in.

Making her way around, seeing that the front entrance was her best option, Wraith hid behind a rock, waiting for her perfect chance to strike. When the guards flashed at each other when they made their way to the entrance, they spun around, moving to peek around the corner to spot their comrade on the other side. Wraith watched them come back to the front of the entrance, the spotlight turning away as they did, that was her chance, but she was hesitant. She waited again, making sure the window of opportunity was enough for her to sneak in. As the guards came across one another again, Wraith began to run as they turned their back onto each other. The spotlight moved to the right, shining down at the inner corner, Wraith knew she'd have to be quick before it came back to shine on the left corner.

Her footsteps splashed in the puddles as she ran, but it was pouring harshly that the loud splashes were slightly muffled. She stepped on some mud that slowed her down, Wraith wasn't expecting her boots to sink in the earth, but when she realized the sudden extra weight due to her boot getting stuck for a split second, she knew she lost enough speed to not make it anymore. The spotlight was coming back, she didn't have enough time to run past it. Wraith brought her left hand up, clenching her fist as she passes through the void for a few seconds to make her way to the front door without being detected. She came back into reality, crouching by the front metal door, Wraith took a second to look at her surroundings. When she made sure no one was around, Wraith began to open the vault door; twisting and turning the wheel with the best strength she could muster, though it proved difficult with her sprained wrist, she still managed to do it. Peeking inside through a crack, Wraith carefully pushed the metal door open and makes her way inside. Crypto's voice comes through the USB, startling the skirmisher.

"Avoid the left hallway, the stairs are on your right. Look for the cartography room, it should be in the upper floors somewhere."

Wraith slowly crept through the hallway, peeking around every corner before she crossed. Passing by iron closed doors, Wraith made sure to be careful around the ones that were open. She heard someone talk inside a computer room, but they were looking at the screen, making it safe for Wraith to walk by. It was a completely different area, unrelated to the IMC, but Wraith couldn't help but find the two similar. Soldiers stood by the hallways for extra security in the IMC, just in case a patient has gone rogue, which was very common. And then there was the many different staff in the Facility. Scientists, doctors, engineers, hell even a politician would come by time to time to check on the progress of project "Wraith." Looking at each individual room of the Syndicate HQ gave her flashbacks of what she saw in the IMC when she was being escorted. There was a difference between the two, but it still gave out the same atmosphere. Soldiers keeping watch in the hallway, and staff members worked tirelessly on their stations, it was all the same. Just this time, there was no human pigs to toy around with.

Wraith was making her way up to the third floor, hiding below the final steps to take a peek of what's in front of her. There was a soldier across the hallway looking straight at her, though he hasn't spotted her yet. She ducked down, having zero plans on how to distract him. Until she heard an opening somewhere, and sure enough, when she peeked out, she saw that the soldier was looking at the right hallway. He moved out of his position to check the noise out, Wraith knew the door had to be Crypto's doing. Wraith walks up the final steps of the stairs, looking at every door to spot a name tag that said "cartography." She reached to the end of a hallway, no luck of her destination, and she was deep in the headquarters. If Wraith gets spotted, she'd surely be charged for trespassing, maybe even be sentenced to prison. And she knows the IMC will make a move on her if they heard about that...

Wraith sees the point-end of the soldiers gun coming out of the room where he heard the noise at. She knew she couldn't open up the doors around her, the chances of someone being in them is too high and risky to find out. And if Wraith runs back to the hallway that led to the second floor, she wouldn't have enough time to turn the corner, he'd see her. There was no other way, Wraith had to put him down, but is she allowed to do that?

_Danger move!_

It's as if time had slowed down, the point of the gun slowly moving forward revealing the magazine and the ADS. The soldier's arms came into view, and so did his face, covered by a mask and goggles. Wraith was already running towards him, she saw his eyes slowly turn to her direction. Just meters apart, time was regaining it's normal speed, and Wraith realized she wouldn't make it to him first. The soldier held the gun up at her, his fingers just inches away from the trigger. Wraith knew she had to get him before the shot alerted the entire HQ, but given the situation, she messed up. It was a rookie mistake, she should've been faster. Wraith went into phase, the hallway and iron doors of the headquarter has gone blue, the soldier disappearing in front of her since she entered a different space. Wraith made her way to the door, coming back to reality, the soldier came back into view. Wraith immediately kicks the soldier's arms, causing the gun to fall out of his hands. He spun around, tackling her to the ground. He held Wraith down with his body weight and arm, the other arm reaching for the radio on his caller.

Wraith's eyes flashed, the skirmisher wiggled her arm free and punched the soldier's neck, making him fall over as he held his neck. Wraith quickly rolled on top of his back and wrapped her arms around his neck, she pulled upward as she stretched back. The soldier struggled in her hold, his hands moving around trying to find her face, but Wraith was leaning away from him. The soldier tried pulling her arms away, but his strength slowly faded along with his consciousness. Wraith let go after a minute for safety precautions, dragging his body inside the cartography room Crypto opened up for her. How he was able to control the door while staying inside the ship bewildered her, but she knew he must've brought extra gadgets just in case, which she was thankful for. The door closed once the body was inside the room with her, and Wraith went over to lock it. She backed away and looked over at the screen that displayed both King's Canyon and World's Edge, the perspective changing every minute. Wraith took the USB from her back pocket, porting it to an empty slot on the PC in front of her. The screen showed some sort of robotic face that could also be taken as a robotic skull, a hacker icon no doubt Crypto designed.

"This will only take a minute."

Wraith crossed her arms, she tapped her foot on the ground as she watched the screen in front of her show off files of the arena and the plans for any new planets to move in.

"Take a look at this."

The screen projected King's Canyon, then it showed a photograph underground from a side glance. The camera moved overhead, and Wraith could see the entire layout of the underground buildings. She recognized some of the room layouts and formation, it was the Detention Facility.

_The answers...._

_So close.._

"It's-" Wraith was flabbergasted.

"Is this the black vault?" Crypto asks through the USB.

"It's-" Wraith let out a breath, shaking her head. "It's actually the IMC Detention Facility.... I've been trying to relocate the entrance I came out of for years but... Sometimes I really believed it was gone... but to think, it's still there..."

"Came out and said it, huh? How interesting."

Wraith kept staring at the screen, the Facility almost covered up the entirety of King's Canyon, with some rooms being unrecognizable as she's never been to that area. She found her cell, alone and away from the hundreds of cells on the other side of the Facility. She also found the showers, and the consultation room, where she had her drills and injections...

Wraith subconsciously held her right arm, for a moment she thought she felt a needle pierce her skin, but it was just her imagination. Wraith cursed at the stupid horrible memories that kept coming up.

"Yeah, I found a few open entrances you can get into. I have the entire layout downloaded, I'll print it for you when we get back."

Finally, after years of waiting and searching, she's finally close to finding out who she was...

"Thanks," she muttered.

"Don't mention it. I've got what I needed, you can pull the USB off."

Wraith took the USB out and slipped it back into her pocket, the screen went back to showing off both King's Canyon and World's Edge in an overview perspective. She was about to leave, her hand just hovering over the lock, when Crypto's voice came through.

"Stop. You can't leave him there."

Wraith looked back down at the body slumped against the wall.

"But I... I can't take him with me, I'll get caught," Wraith stammered.

"Then find a way."

Wraith grumbled in displeasure, she brings her left wrist up to check on her portal charge.

100%.

She holds her right forearm as she created a portal in front of her, hoisting the body by the pits and throwing it inside. She couldn't close it manually, it'll close automatically within a minute, she had to leave it. Unlocking the door now, she poked her head out, once the coast was clear, she slowly stepped out and carefully closed the door behind her. She retraced her steps, walking slowly when she passed by the same open doors with employees inside. Second floor, first floor, she was almost there to the main entrance. Wraith waited by the stairs, watching a group of employees having a conversation in the lobby.

"A pure genius he was, alas, the best must come to an end..."

"Just the thought of the work the man could do for us now if he was still alive... a shame."

"Not even his daughter could match his exquisite work, though it's too soon to speak, she is still young after all."

"Are you thinking of sending her an invitation to project CIRE?"

"The boss is looking for someone who's capable of solving the missing and incorrect equations we have for the formula. And she graduated Math 55..."

The voices of the employees trailed off as the group walked away, giving Wraith the chance she needs to escape. She turned the wheel, again struggling a little to turn it with her sprained wrist. It was still pouring out, and she knew she couldn't run out of the entrance to escape. The rain made the night hard to see, and Wraith couldn't rely on the flash of the flashlight from the two patrolling soldiers out front to time her escape. The wall was covering both of them, so she wouldn't know if they're looking at her by the time she runs out. There was also the spotlight moving left and right, shining at every corner in the inner perimeter. It was impossible to time from her position, and the walls were too high for her to jump over, so climbing out was out of the question. Even if the walls weren't too high, Wraith still had to remember the other soldiers patrolling the side of the walls. Wraith could check on the back entrance, but she didn't know if soldier's were back there or not, the front entrance was the best exit she really has. The spotlight passed by the middle, shining at the left corner, Wraith watched for the flashlights up front. When two flashlights met each other in the entrance, Wraith waited for the soldiers to turn away. When they turned, and the spotlight passed by, Wraith bolted from her place.

Remembering the mud, she made sure to bring her feet up with more force. When she came into contact with it, it was much more stickier than it was before. Wraith cursed under her breath when her boot got stuck, costing her two seconds. The soldiers made their way to the end of the wall, peeking at the corner to spot their comrade. Wraith panicked when they were turning back, she sprinted back up behind the rock she hid at before, but her foot slips on a few pebbles that didn't hold place. She stopped her fall with her palms and knees, wincing in pain when she put weight on her left palm.

_They might've heard you._

A soldier flashed his light around the area where he heard the noise from, but he was blinded by the rain. His comrade shines his light around as well, catching a glimpse of something black. One of them talks through the radio claiming they've spotted someone.

_They might've seen you._

"Get out of there!" Crypto's voice came through.

Wraith darted back to the ship past the hill, not wanting to risk getting caught. The rock she hid behind was being inspected by the two soldiers from the front entrance. They looked around the area, when one of them flashed the light behind Wraith. She was too far for them to identify but it was still an odd black figure in the night.

"Over there!"

_Danger move!_

Wraith picked up her pace, running up the hill and down towards the ship. She was going too fast and lost her footing as a result, tumbling down the hill with grass and mud sticking onto her clothes and hair.

"Fuck!"

She rolled at the bottom of the hill, the flash of the lights nearing closer at the top of the hill. Wraith got up and climbed inside the rear, looking back up if anyone was around. Crypto immediately closes the ramp and types something on another bot Wraith hasn't seen before.

"What are you doing? They're coming!" She asks when he was typing into a PC.

Crypto brings a finger up to his lips, smirking. "I'm always prepared. Observe."

Crypto shows Wraith a screen of their location, the dropship being completely invisible. The soldiers were at the top of the hill, looking down at it and seeing nothing. They checked around the area for another minute before leaving it, one of them speaking into the radio before swirling his index finger in a circle motion.

"What?"

"Camouflage, we're lucky they haven't gone down to check the area, else they would've hit an invisible wall. I had a feeling I would've needed this in case you were poor on _sneaking_ ," Crypto looked sharply at Wraith, expecting better from her.

"I did a few mistakes, I'll admit... I'll do better next time."

Crypto called back his drone, dismissing Wraith to take a seat for liftoff. Wraith complied, sitting down on a chair and putting her seatbelt on. She laid her head back into the chair, taking a deep breath, her chest rose and fell as she calmed down. Pushing her bangs aside, her bun dank and messy, Wraith was filthy with patches of dirt, mud, and grass stuck onto her clothes. She was exhausted, going back to her dorm to sleep has never sounded so good. Going back to see _Natalie_ , that was even better.

"The IMC Detention Facility... were you a patient?" Crypto asks.

"...I was."

"Yet here you are, signed up for the Games, in plain view... Running away, yet sticking around, you're just like me."

"Where are you going with this?" Wraith asks, getting to the point.

Crypto chuckled, focusing on piloting through the air back home. "We should stick with each other, you and I. You need me to uncover your past, and I need more information of your ability so I can use it to my advantage to uncover the truth."

"I'm still deciding on whether or not I should trust you, you're not a very convincing person you know," Wraith crossed her arms.

"My name is Park Tae-Joon, and you will keep my real name between us. I'm not asking you to trust me right now, but I ask that you do soon. The sooner you trust me, the quicker you'll get the answers you seek."

Wraith nodded, giving the thought a second. She knew she couldn't go to the Facility without Tae, he was her best bet on going anywhere, to pull important files out for her to read. She could count on Natalie as well, and Wraith has thought about bringing her, but would Natalie be able to open up locked doors without an ID? The girl could bring her own gadgets, but Wraith couldn't afford to wait for weeks for Natalie to make _one_ thing.

"You're not all too bad... I'll think about it."

"Thank you," Tae whispered.

The rest of the trip was quiet as Tae brought the dropship up the ramp of the hangar, landing safely as the wheels slowed the dropship down. He unbuckles his seatbelt and turns off the radius bot. He held his hand out to Wraith who looked at him confusingly.

"My USB."

"Oh," Wraith pulls the USB out of her pocket and places it on Tae's hand. He puts his hands in his pockets as usual, smiling at the skirmisher, saying good wishes as he leaves her. Wraith waved a hand goodbye, going back upstairs to her own dorm. She didn't know whether to shower now or tomorrow, she really wanted some sleep in, but Wraith didn't want to sleep on her bed with mud on her. She made her way up the stairs, going up to the third floor, her legs wanted to give up on her as her body suddenly put on more weight. She made it to her dorm, pulling out her keys to unlock it. It swung open, Wraith stumbling inside as she closed her door, the door shut loudly. She didn't mean to do that.

Wraith threw her keys on the table, she slumped down on her couch, her bangs falling down to her eyes. She laid there, not having the energy nor strength to pull herself up for a shower. She looked up at the clock next to her bed, on top of the smalltable.

1:13am.

Wraith limply and heavily fell back down on the couch, drowsiness consuming her. She brought the pillow over to her face, having something soft to rest on. Removing her scarf and placing it on the floor, Wraith unties her bun and let's her messy hair loose. She nuzzles the pillow, burying her face to get comfortable. Closing her eyes and giving it a few minutes, she dreamt somewhat of an unpleasant dream.

~~~


	7. Love

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 43 minutes

"- _rie_."

Wraith was met with a splatter of blood. She was back in the IMC, except, she wasn't a patient, she was herself. Her usual arena clothes and her signature scarf... But she was back in the same room where she went through her drills while being strapped onto a chair where doctors came in bringing in a cart of tools, mostly filled with needles and drugs.

"-up."

Wraith tried looking through the glass, but the splatter of blood made it impossible to. Who's blood was it? And who was on the other side of the glass? She couldn't make it out, but someone is dead in front of her on the other side. The bullet caved into the bulletproof glass, Wraith sees the potential murderer's feet walk out of the room. Wraith noticed there was more than one person in the room of the crime. It had to be none other than IMC soldiers, but who did they kill? It didn't matter if she couldn't see who died, she was stuck right now. The doors weren't budging and she could see IMC officers running in the hallway through the glass.

"Wraith?"

Jolting up from the couch in a cold sweat, Wraith groaned at the pain in her ribs and realized it was all just a dream. She looked over at her clock, it was a few minutes past 9am. She rubbed the sand out of her eyes and stretched her arms back, standing up from the couch. Looking back down, she left dirt stains on it, but she didn't care. A knock on the door caught her attention and she really didn't want to open it with dirt on her.

"Are you there?"

If Wraith could clench her heart in place, she would. It felt like it was going to fly out of her chest from happiness hearing the sound of Natalie's sweet voice. Wraith walked over to open the door since she didn't want the defender standing there any longer than she's already have since Wraith doesn't know exactly how long Natalie has been waiting. Turning the knob, Natalie stood in front of her with a package in hand. The younger woman keeping her promise by bringing Wraith food everyday. Wraith sees that she brought her pancakes today, and pancakes were actually Wraith's favorite.

"Hey," Wraith greeted her, knowing that Natalie was going to stare at every patch of dirt and ask a bunch of questions.

Natalie opened her mouth and pointed at, well, _everything_ , but she didn't utter a word. She looked at both sides of the hallway before coming in without asking, closing the door behind her.

"Why are you here? You're suppose to be resting, _chérie_. And why do you look worse than yesterday?"

Natalie absentmindedly brushed off the dirt and grass off of Wraith's clothing, causing the skirmisher to blush when the defender was brushing off some strands of grass near her breasts.

"U-um-"

"Did you go outside? What's all this doing on your clothes? You didn't have this in the Games, did you?" Natalie picked off dried mud stuck on Wraith's arms.

"I did! After Anita punched me and I rolled over, remember?" She couldn't believe she thought of something so quick, she hated lying in front of Natalie.

Natalie didn't buy it though, pouting at Wraith while furrowing her eyes. "You said no more secrets."

Fuck, she did.

Wraith sighed and threw her head back. "I'll tell you soon, could I please just... enjoy my time with you? I'm exhausted and I could really use your company, I feel bad."

"Feel bad for what?"

"Our plans that I ruined with my reckless fighting," Wraith sighs again, tiredly rubbing her forehead. "And I got into another fight last night, making my week even more perfect."

Natalie shook her head, "you never do give yourself a break, do you?"

"Willing to today, with you," Wraith tried giving her a warm smile, but she was worn out. Natalie just gently caressed her cheek and lightly pinched it lovingly, still pouting at the purple bruise on Wraith's cheek.

" _Si belle_..."

Wraith couldn't understand her, but she loved hearing Natalie's strange language, it made her heart skip a beat. And as much as she hated mornings, this one in particular made her feel better. Sure, Wraith is drained, but the young defender's company is worth getting up for. Natalie wouldn't know it, but her company alone is enough to shift weight off of Wraith's shoulders, even distracting the skirmisher enough to not think about her scarred memories. The voices were in agreement with her, saying compliments that Wraith would normally be too embarrassed to say. But at least they were happy, most of them at least, a few voices were vengeful wanting to get the answers they seek, and the others, the merciful ones, just wanted to enjoy their time, being free and enjoying life. Wraith doesn't know where she stands between the two versions of her, part of her wants to find out her past as soon as possible, maybe even be capable of taking revenge if any information provokes her to do so. The other part wants her to sit down and relax as she enjoyed her surroundings, away from toxicity and abuse, finding out true love and staying with the person who made her happy.

Wraith takes a plate from the cupboard and sets it down on her kitchen table, Natalie was already sitting down on a chair, across from the skirmisher. "Are you free today?" Wraith asks, grabbing a fork before sitting down to pour maple syrup on the pancakes Natalie brought her.

The taller blonde nodded, resting her hands on her cheeks. "I have nothing to work on, finished up all my tasks yesterday."

"Hm," Wraith hummed, getting up to pick something up on her smalltable next to her bed. "If it's alright with you, I know it might be sudden... but, would you like to have our date today?"

"Er, right now?" Natalie asks, leaning on the chair as she watched Wraith struggle on putting her bun correctly.

"Is it okay? I mean, you're already here." Wraith checks on her mirror to see if the bun she put up looked right, but it was as messy as ever. Some strands on her bangs stood up, and she could see patches of brown on parts of her hair that had dried mud and dirt. She looked... bad. Worse than she usually did. Her eyes were especially awful, the bags were a darker color than her pale skin tone and she had a few wrinkles due to lack of sleep. For once Wraith was actually worried about her outward appearance.

"I'm not against it, though I would prefer if I dressed for the occasion... and it looks like you could use some preparation as well," the defender giggles.

Wraith sat back down on the table, finally digging into the pancakes. Her face beamed when she took a bite, nodding off with a smile. "This tastes great."

"Are you going to say that everyday?" Natalie twiddled her fingers together.

"Until you realize that you're a great cook," Wraith smiled, popping another piece into her mouth, making a sound in delight.

Natalie shook her head and muttered, "weird taste buds..." The defender couldn't help but smile and puff out a small laugh, knowing that Wraith was being honest and trying to give her hope and confidence. She loved the secret good side of Wraith, the skirmisher showing off a vulnerable and cute side of her that nobody else would know about. Except for Pathfinder, Natalie saw a few moments here and there of the skirmisher trying her best to keep Pathfinder happy, even if it meant going out of character. It was silly to see back then, but now, now that it was towards her... Natalie felt... special. There was more going on than Wraith trying to tell Natalie that she was a great cook, there was something else there, something loving, and caring. Supportive, and appreciative. Wraith is already a capable partner for Natalie, able to show off trust, admitting things, coming forward with details later but not too late, being there for her, actually being kind, and most importantly, Wraith _loved_ her. So much so that Natalie is the reason why the skirmisher was distracted and got a rare loss, twice, in a row. Natalie still finds it a bit funny but it also made her heart skip a few beats thinking about it. Wraith, the ruthless and feared legend, was capable of _loving_ , and she chose Natalie out of everyone. It was too much, too much for Natalie's heart to handle.

Honestly, Natalie didn't think she'd chase after the person she loved in the arena, but she had a crush on Wraith ever since she watched the Apex Games at home since season one. It distracted her from the recent death of her papa, but the Games' was only live once a week and the fifteen minute match wasn't enough to cover her grief. If she knew that the Legends would eventually check up on her, if she knew that they would invite her to join the arena so they would be her new family, if she knew she was going to get closer to Wraith, she would've told her papa sooner that she loved the skirmisher. In love with a Legend, another _woman_. But Natalie never spoke about her love-life, not even to her beloved papa. It wasn't important to either of them, she believed that, but sometimes in her life, Natalie wanted to come out and say it, say that she was interested in other girls. But she held it in her chest, afraid that her papa would disown her. It was a silly thought, Natalie knows her papa loved her too much to disown her for a silly matter, he wouldn't care about her sexuality, no doubt. He would've still loved her, Luc Paquette would say something like, "love is love, my dearest Natalie. Chase after what you love and enjoy, liking girls doesn't change you. You're still my sweetest and smartest little girl."

He'd let her love, but maybe he wouldn't allow her to chase after Wraith. She was a Legend after all, and Natalie wasn't. It was impossible back then, but now... if he was still alive, Natalie would've told him. They'd both be banned from the Games, but they'd be happy. Maybe he wouldn't like Wraith at first, maybe he would judge the skirmisher based on her killing spree performance in the Games, Natalie couldn't tell. Her father founded Wraith after all, but he didn't properly know her. Natalie remembers it clearly, he came home a bit later than usual, putting his luggage down as he sat down on the kitchen table. Natalie fills their plates, it was 7pm, dinnertime. He rubbed his forehead and looked at a piece of paper, Natalie asked him what was wrong. Luc Paquette sets the paper down, digging into his food. He told her that he met a strange individual, a woman, and he explained to her that the woman was very lost and scared. The woman told him that she had nowhere to go, and her father asked if she needed money and a place to stay. The woman nodded at him, and so her father gave her an application to sign for the arena.

Maybe it was a bad idea, but Luc Paquette saved Wraith's life by giving her the things she needed to survive. But if Luc knew that his only daughter was in love with Wraith... if he knew how Wraith would eventually become in the Apex Games, he wouldn't allow Natalie to love her. He would judge the woman too quickly based on her scary performance. But who knew, that Wraith was a sweetheart on the inside. If Luc was still alive and gave Wraith a chance, ignoring how she did in the arena, Natalie was sure that Luc would've loved her. Wraith fit all the qualifications to become her partner, for Luc to approve. Natalie is his only child, a child who stayed close to him for many years, taking care of him as he was getting old. Of course Luc would be a bit overprotective over his daughter about her love-life, which she never talked about, so it only made sense for him to look for the best partner for his little _ange_. It was hard to say what his opinion for Wraith would be, but Natalie believed that he would've accepted Wraith as part of the family.

"You're not eating?" Wraith asked, finishing up her pancakes and giving the package back to Natalie.

"I ate not too long ago. I overslept a little."

Wraith totally forgot breakfast was an hour ago. She pushed her chair back and began to prepare a cup of coffee. Wraith pours the appropriate amount of water for two cups and removes the old filter, putting in a new one with more ground coffee than usual. She closes the lid and plugs the machine up, selecting ON and turning it on auto. Slowly, the machine worked it's magic by pouring boiling coffee inside the kettle, the herby aroma engulfing the room, Wraith loved the scent of freshly brewed coffee.

"Did you sleep late?" Wraith turns back to Natalie, leaning back on the counter.

"It's not that I slept late, I just couldn't sleep for several hours," Natalie sighed as she stretched her back, it made a cracking sound that made Wraith's back go weak for a second.

"Nightmares? Stress?"

"Definitely stress, I had a lot of things in my mind last night...," Natalie mumbled, smoothing out her bangs.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Wraith asked her, but the defender shook her head.

"I want to have a nice time with you, I'd hate to bring stuff up that would ruin this moment."

Wraith slowly nodded, turning back to the coffee machine and pouring herself a cup. "Coffee?"

"Oh, yes please!" Natalie smiles.

Wraith picks out another bone china, a finer design than the one she's using. The art displayed a vine showing off many different vibrant colors of flowers. The china was a white cup with a gold rim and a gold handle. The flowers shown on the cup were irises, azalea, aster, jasmine, and violets. It looked especially beautiful compared to her regular white china with a gold rim, the design only being lilies. Wraith pours a bit of freshly brewed coffee into the cup and brings a gallon of milk out of her personal fridge, setting the gallon down next to the blonde. The blonde thanks her and pours herself her own preference of her coffee. Wraith brings the sugar over to the table, putting the large pottery down on the middle and lifting the lid off. Wraith only put one and a half spoonfuls of sugar in her black coffee, while Natalie put about three and a half oversized spoonfuls.

"Too much sugar is bad for you, you know...," Wraith commented, mixing her black coffee and giving it a taste-test. Dark and bitter, just how she preferred it.

Natalie whined, "it's disgusting if it isn't sweet, how can you even drink that?" The blonde wrinkled her nose at the sight of Wraith's dark substance.

Wraith only shrugged. "I drink black coffee when I'm having a hard day, or a good way to wake me up."

"Sooo," Natalie traced the china's gold rim with the tip of her fingernail, her other hand resting on her cheek. "Well," Natalie paused, looking up at Wraith who was sipping her coffee. "I would suggest we go somewhere but...," Natalie pointed at own her head signaling about the dirt that covered Wraith.

"I didn't think I'd get dirty last night. I wasn't focusing too well and I panicked."

"What even happened?" Natalie brings the china up to her perky lips as she takes a sip of her sweet coffee.

Wraith hesitated, hesitated because she knew Natalie worked with the Syndicate, or maybe she didn't. The girl worked with them regardless, and Wraith didn't know if she was close to them or not. She killed one person last night, _one._ Even if she could tell Natalie the details, and Natalie didn't care for the Syndicate, the girl would still know about the sudden disappearance of a soldier. Wraith didn't think things this far, she forgot about Natalie's relation with the Syndicate. She even remembers the conversation of the group of employees last night, they were talking about Natalie and her father. They plan on inviting her to work on a project named CIRE, whatever that was. Which meant that Natalie is still in contact with the Syndicate, either through her father or herself, that, or the girl still works with them. Either way, Wraith had to lie in her face, she couldn't risk being banned or thrown into jail when she's so close of getting her answers.

"Um," Wraith began, trying to come up with something quick. But then the words rang in her head, the words Natalie spoke several times.

_"I'm on your side, no matter what!"_

Her milky eyes met up with ocean blue across from her, patiently waiting for an answer. Wraith took a deep breath, she knew that Natalie told her several times that she's on her side, but this time... This in particular was very risky for Wraith to talk about, but she took that chance. She believed in the person she loved to stand with her. "Last night, I went out to the Syndicate's headquarters to collect some data, revolving around the 'black vault.' And I... I found it Nat. The one place which I thought was gone forever is actually still there, underneath the arena of King's Canyon."

"You broke into the Syndicate?"

Wraith's heart began to pound, "...yes?"

Natalie stared at her, she stared for a little too long that it made her uncomfortable. The skirmisher grew anxious by the second thinking several different things Natalie would do or say that would jeopardize her quest to uncover who she once was.

"You know if you told me, I would've gone myself and extracted the files for you..."

Now it was Wraith's turn to stare. "Are you serious?"

Natalie nodded, taking another sip with a smirk, trying to contain her laugh.

"I-," Wraith held a finger up, then sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Okay but... if you get caught in the act, you'd be in serious trouble. You could get banned, be in custody, shot even."

"I told you before, _chérie_ -"

"I know, I know," Wraith sighed again.

"But this is good news! So you said the black vault contains your past?"

Wraith nodded. "There are some... troubling details you need to know about first."

"Ok, I'm listening," Natalie sips her coffee and sets the china back down, giving Wraith her utmost attention.

"Underneath the arena...," Wraith breathed. "Is the IMC Detention Facility for the mentally ill. I was a patient there, a lab rat, for their experiments. I woke up one day with no recollection of my past, my name, who I was or where I woke up from."

Natalie slowly nodded.

"When I woke up, I heard distant voices in my head, and I remember being afraid of them. Whenever I brought them up, I'd get injections to help cope with my sanity. How I escaped was a one-in-a-million chance... there was an explosion in one of the acidic tanks they were working on. Most of the Facility caught on fire, and the acid seeped through the floors, creating openings for the cells underneath. My cell didn't get the acid nor explosion, I was escorted to safety, since I was their most prized possession. However, the other inmates stormed all throughout the Facility trying to escape. The IMC officers who were escorting me were suddenly pushed away from a mob of inmates. When I was out of their grasp, I ran with the mob, because I was afraid... I wanted to desperately escape too... but IMC officers blocked the door that led to the outside world. They shot at us, I remember seeing all the inmates in front of me fall down one by one, a pool of blood formed underneath our bare feet. We all ran over them, pushing out their remaining oxygen and not giving them a chance to stand back up. I kept thinking that I'd die next if I kept running, but I knew I couldn't turn back, I had to escape, to _survive_ ," Wraith's voice quivered, her bottom lip shook as she spoke. Her sight was blurry due to the tears that formed at the corner of her eyes. "I watched, as I was at the front of the line now, I watched the IMC officers in front of me quickly reload, then bring their guns back up. I saw the muzzle flash, and suddenly the entire Facility turned blue. Everyone around me was gone, the only other people I saw... was me. The other Wraiths were all running through the same hallway. Some of them died by getting shot, others made it in through the doors. I was one of the few that made it through the door, and I met with the construction of the Games in the distant. I looked around me, and I saw that I came out of a locked black vault. I took a piece of cloth hanging on a fence... wrapped it around my neck, and went into hiding in the construction site."

Natalie gasped, feeling emotional. "My father found you..."

Wraith nodded, "Luc Paquette found me hiding in the corner of an abandoned room. He was there to use the room to work on the ring, until he saw me. I was afraid, for a second I thought he worked with the IMC. I was afraid of going back... but then, he shushed me, and talked to me with a gentle voice. I told him I had nowhere to go, and he asked me if I needed money and a place to stay. I told him 'yes,' so he gave me an application to fill out to sign up for the Apex Games. At first I was hesitant of joining, but if I had to know who I was, I had to get stronger first. It was a difficult gamble, I had to risk my own safety by sticking around the Facility, but I knew I had to stay close by if I ever want to go back..."

"So that's it...," Natalie trailed off, wiping away the tears in her eyes.

Wraith nodded, rubbing her eyes to wipe the tears away but they kept coming down uncontrollably. "The Games made me trust the voices, and it also helped me uncover my powers. How I got them... is unknown."

"This is..."

"A lot to take in, I know." Wraith moved her tongue around the inside of her cheeks.

"I- if only...," Natalie let out a breath, leaning closer to the table to squeeze Wraith's hand. "I'm so sorry you had to endure all that."

"I can't change the past, but I can look up for the future. And from the looks of it, I think I'll do just fine. I'm experiencing happiness right now," Wraith smiled, squeezing back.

"Oh _chérie_..."

"I tried your idea out, I asked Crypto for help to help me find the Facility. I'm waiting for him to print the layout for me, I don't know when I'll make a move on the Facility." Wraith sips the last remaining bit of her cold coffee.

"And going back to Solace would take three days, there wouldn't be enough time to come back before the Games..." Natalie dried off her face with her free sleeve.

"Precisely. And I can't fake my injuries, I'm sure Anita will recover before the next Apex Games'."

"Mm," Natalie agreed, thinking.

"But I know a way to delay it," Wraith smirks.

"How?" Natalie wondered, raising a brow.

"You said the Games would be post-poned to a later date if there was no ring, right?"

"Correct. So you want to destroy the ring and the duplicate?" Natalie questions.

Wraith nodded, letting go of Natalie's hand so she can push her chair back to stand up. She made her way over to the couch, bending down to grab her scarf and wrapping it around her neck, a sigh of relief that her neck is covered. Natalie comes up behind her, taking the scarf off.

"I'm taking this. Change out of your dirty clothes," Natalie says, setting the scarf on her shoulder. "I'm gonna go to my dorm to destroy the duplicate. You can take a shower if you want, we'll go out when you're ready."

"It won't take long."

"Good," Natalie says, caressing Wraith's cheek to plant a kiss on the bruise, smoothing the cheek over with her thumb. "I'll be seeing you soon," Natalie winks, making the skirmisher's heart skyrocket.

The young defender leaves the studio, leaving Wraith to pick out new clothes to take a shower. She looks inside her closet, pulling out a black, long-sleeved turtleneck sweater and black utility pants. She closed her closet and walked over to her drawer, bending down to open the bottom one, she pulls out a black bra, a tank top, and black boxers. Wraith goes to lock her door first before entering her bathroom, untying her bun and setting her hair free. She turns the faucet on to a warm temperature before setting it in shower mode. Wraith neatly stacks her clothes in a bin before hopping in the shower, the warm droplets hitting against her skin, trailing down to her feet. She runs her fingers through locks of hair, getting the dirt and grime out that was stuck in her scalp. Her hands travel all around her body, rubbing off any dirt that seeped through her clothing and stained her skin. Wraith cups her breasts, she washes her nipples and makes sure she gets between the crack and underneath her boobs where it sweated the most. She rubs her pits before washing her back, then working her way downward between her inner thighs.

She takes a bottle of shampoo and squeezes it onto her hand, then takes the conditioner. The products gave out a coconut smell in the shower, making Wraith take a deep breath as she inhaled the sweet scent. She rubs her hair for a few minutes until it was soapy enough to rinse off. Wraith made sure to part tufts of hair to the correct side, gently untangling any knots in her hair. Before she finished, she rinsed the back of her ears and washed her bellybutton, finally turning the faucet off and wrapping a clean towel around her torso. Wraith holds her hair together and wrings the water out on the sink. She takes each corner of the towel and begins to dry herself off, drying her breasts first before moving to her back and down to her legs. She takes her undergarments from the bin first, slipping her boxer on and clipping her bra together. Next she slipped into her tank top and put her turtleneck over her head, taking her pants next and pulling them up to her waist. Wraith grabs her hair tie on the sink and goes back to her drawer to get some socks, each of her arms slipping into the sleeves as she went. Wraith bends down to open the bottom drawer and picks out two black socks, sitting down on the floor to fit them on. She stands back up, looking at her mirror as she ties her hair up to a bun again.

Once she was done with that, Wraith grabs her deodorant on top of the drawer and applies it to her pits underneath her turtleneck sweater. It was hard to maneuver the stick with the limited space she had but she managed. Wraith looked around her room and at herself, wondering if there was anything else she was missing. And then it clicked, she has yet to brush her teeth this morning, she felt icky for leaving her mouth unwashed for too long. Thankfully she didn't spoke near or towards Natalie or she would've been embarrassed.

Wraith stretched as she made her way back to the bathroom, taking her toothbrush and squeezing toothpaste on it. Going back to look around her room in case she was missing anything, she goes back to her drawer to grab her ID, wallet, and keys before putting them all in her pocket. A knock on her door made her hurry up and finish brushing her teeth. She sets her toothbrush back in the cup and opens up her door, being greeted by a surprise guest.

"Love the new look, very nice," Tae compliments her. He holds out a few papers towards Wraith. "Here, this is what you wanted."

Wraith takes the stacks of papers, going through them until she pulls out a map layout of the Facility. Some ends were circled with a red pen. "What's with the circles?"

"They're entrances, I thought you might want to know where they're at specifically. I have to tell you something important," Crypto pulls out a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "This sheet of paper explains why the Facility is being scanned out by the Syndicate."

"I'm listening," Wraith says, tucking the stack of papers under her arm.

"They stumbled upon it by accident, they had planned to expand the arena underground for fresh new areas for the Legends to battle on. When they looked around for an entrance, they realized the Facility was completely empty once they got inside. The Syndicate dismissed the idea of digging underground to expand the map of King's Canyon just to focus on uncovering the layout of the Facility." Crypto points at the map Wraith was holding. "That's what they uncovered so far, so they're still checking the area. Here's the bad part, they plan on setting the Facility on fire to burn the evidence and any data that could potentially harm their image."

"This week?" Wraith asks.

Tae shook his head. "No, they'll burn it once they scan the entire layout. Whenever we plan on going to the Facility, we'll have to be careful. Syndicate's soldiers are the ones scanning the place, and they're fully kitted with weapons and armor."

"Fuck..."

"It seems like the IMC shut the place down after the outbreak and left the Facility to collect dust, who knows where they moved to next," Crypto shoves his hand back inside his pocket.

"I just hope they didn't erase or take any data with them when they abandoned the place," Wraith sighs.

Tae smirks, earning a smile from Wraith. "You have something for that, don't you?"

"Indeed I do, as long as a PC's hard drive isn't destroyed, I am able to extract files from it with a USB universal drive adapter and a different functioning computer to plug the hard drive into."

"Hey, I have a question. Would we be fine by ourselves in the Facility or do you think you could get some use out of Natalie?" Wraith was generally curious. She knew Tae is capable of hacking their way in and extracting files, which is what they needed. But if there was anything more complicated than that that even Tae couldn't do, then Natalie would be the one to help them out.

"I can't hack without power, Natalie would be a great asset to the plan if she's willing to go."

"I am willing to go."

Wraith just spotted Natalie behind Tae, Tae turns around and bows, his way of greeting. Natalie bowed back, smiling.

"Wonderful," Crypto says. "I'll leave you two be, I've already delivered what I came here for," he turns his head back at Wraith. "If I find anything else, I'll let you know. _작별._ "

Wraith waved after him, leaning on her doorway as she examined Natalie, who changed from her usual arena clothes, though she still kept her signature jacket. "How come you get to keep your jacket but I can't have my scarf?"

"It's dirty, and I know you won't wash it because it's always _been_ dirty."

Wraith jokingly pouts, earning an eye roll from the defender. Natalie takes Wraith's hand to lovingly rub her thumb at the back of her hand, reassuring Wraith that she'll 'get it soon.' Wraith didn't care too much about it though, her attention was drawn at what Natalie chose to wore. She was surprised that Natalie didn't change much, the blonde only added a black beanie and wore navy-blue high waist skinny jeans, only removing the extra white suit she had, and her headpiece. Wraith also spotted earmuffs under the beanie, most likely to block off the noise Natalie complained about sometimes in the Apex Games. It wasn't much of a transformation, but Wraith still found Natalie quite attractive. It was definitely the beanie, the beanie worked really well with the younger woman's short puffy hair.

"Shall we?" Natalie held her hand out for Wraith to take, quickly dismissing the hand when she remembered that they couldn't be seen together like that. "Oops."

"You took care of the duplicate, right?" Wraith closed her room door behind her, inserting her room key in the lock, twisting it to one side before pulling out.

"Took a hammer and smashed it, it'll take weeks just to fix it. I'll worry about the one the Syndicate has later, I have no reason to enter the HQ today."

"Alright. Where do you want to go?" Wraith asks, both woman making their way down to the lobby.

"I've been planning things for a while, but there's actually an amusement park going on right now in the central city!"

"Amusement park?" Wraith questions, bringing her ID to scan on the monitor as the two woman were moving to the hangar.

The employee behind the counter pushed a book forward for them to sign the time they leave. Natalie checked on her watch and signed herself out.

"It's a huge place with fun games and good food!"

Wraith signs herself out on 10:08am, both of them walking inside a dropship as they wait for their personal pilot to come over to take them off. Legends are able to leave the ship and do whatever they want as long as they sign out and scan their ID to confirm that they left. Any Legends caught outside of the ship without signing out or scanning their ID will be disqualified from the Apex Games. The safety of the Legends and their whereabouts as well as their identity was very important to the Syndicate, offering the Legends their preference of code, passwords, and their room locations. The point of tracking the Legends when they scan their ID or sign themselves out of the ship was to make sure that they come back within the next twenty-four hours. Any Legends who did not come back before the time limit will be considered missing and the Syndicate are forced to release squads to locate them. If Legends no longer want to associate with the Apex Games' then they will have to break contract with the Syndicate.

"I don't know about 'fun,' but we'll see." Wraith was unsure, but she was willing to try out things Natalie wanted to do. They both slid onto a leather couch and sat next to each other as they waited for their pilot to come and drive them to their destination. Natalie further explained about the amusement park, talking about the different machinery, games, and the prizes that comes with it.

"I know a couple of things you'll love, oh I can't wait!"

Wraith couldn't help but chuckle at the sight of Natalie's excitement. The two woman had a lively conversation of different topics, the pilot coming over three minutes later. He checked their IDs to confirm the identification before sitting down in the front seat, taking charge. Natalie jumped when the dropship bumped, she's always done that, Wraith noticed that when the girl first came into the Games since Season two. She doesn't understand how Natalie hasn't gotten used to it yet, the ship bumped a few times too, though it was rare, it still bumped. But Natalie getting scared about the slightest movement of an aircraft made her even more cute, a little too cute. Wraith had to look away a lot of times in their conversation to hide her face, it was hard _not_ to seem like she was interested in the topic, she wasn't trying to be rude, she just needed to catch a break from Natalie's cute features. It was that damned smile, even worse, Natalie's damn freckles comboe'd up with her Lichtenberg scar. And her eyes, along with her bangs, Wraith couldn't get enough of it all.

When Wraith finally thought her face went back to its pale tone, she turns her head again to face Natalie, only to find Natalie extending her hand to place on her forehead, their face just a few inches apart.

"You doing alright? You keep turning away," Natalie took a second to remove her right glove and placed her hand back on Wraith's forehead.

The pilot spoke through the speaker just in time to save Wraith from embarrassment, announcing that they have made it to their destination and will now be landing. The bumping of the aircraft caused Natalie to back off as she held onto the couch for support, Wraith used the opportunity to lean back into the couch and wait for the exit to open up. The dropship rumbled a bit as it rolled down the road, the wheels bringing the ship to a halt. The pilot opens up the exit, shutting the ship off as they get off themselves.

"When will you ladies be back?" They asked.

Natalie shrugged. "Um, maybe after 8pm?"

The pilot nodded, bringing their wrist up to put an alarm on their watch. "Be back here at 8pm, I'll wait for an extra half hour in case you forget. Any longer than that and I will have to call Special Ops."

Natalie nodded, both of them watched as the pilot made their way inside the airline base. Natalie pointed out in the distance a taxi, dragging Wraith's forearm before someone else took it. When they got close to it, someone else had already called for it. The taxi drove over to the lone man, taking him in and driving away. Wraith and Natalie looked around for any other ones, but the ones they could see were already taken. They waited for a couple of minutes until more taxis came in, the women successfully calling one to take them in. The driver was a friendly dark skinned man with shaved hair, he greeted the ladies and asked where they wanted to go.

"The newly built amusement park, please!" Natalie beamed.

"You got it, buckle up ladies," he moved the slim top mirror in the middle of the car, adjusting it so that he could see things behind him clearer.

Wraith looked at the mirror and noticed he was looking at her.

"Hm," he starts, his face looking puzzled. "You know... you two look familiar."

"Oh! We're Legends in the Apex Games," Natalie explained.

That shook him, he turned his head at them to look at the two woman up and down. "Wow. Might I say that you both look amazing! You know, I always look forward in watching you guys every week in the bar, I'd sacrifice fifteen minutes of football just to watch Wraith demolish everyone."

"I can agree that watching Wraith destroy the entire lobby is quite fun to watch."

"Might I have you two sign something for me? Would that be too much to ask...?" He asks, paying attention to the road in front of him.

"I don't mind at all!" Natalie reassures him.

Wraith stayed quiet, keeping her arms crossed and being uninterested.

"Here, sign my phone case," he hands the phone to the back, which Natalie took, the driver still looking forward at the road. He opens up a drawer on the right front seat, pulling out a black marker.

Natalie took the marker from his hand, signing her name on his phone case. Once she was done, she hovered the items near Wraith's arm. Wraith stared at her, giving a clear symbol she didn't want to, but Natalie pouted at her and mouthed a 'please'. Wraith sighs, taking the phone and marker to write ' _Wraith_ ' just below _Wattson_. She placed the two items in the middle seat, the man thanking them both for taking the time to do so. After that, things were quiet for a couple of minutes, the driver asked them if they wanted to listen to music. Natalie replied back that she doesn't mind, going back to stare out the window. Wraith too was staring out the window, watching cars pass and go the same side and the opposite, looking outward to the city, getting closer to a place that stuck out with its vibrant colors and balloons. Wraith could only assume that was the amusement park Natalie talked about. She could already see hundreds of people walking around the area, and the entire parking lot and roads near the amusement park were filled with vehicles. She saw multiple taxis coming in and out, gathering people who were just leaving and dropping off those who were going in the same time they were. The road came to a halt due to busy traffic, they stayed in the same spot in what seemed like an eternity.

Wraith was already getting impatient, she couldn't understand why they weren't getting off now. Looking over at Nat, she saw that the girl was still smiling full of energy. The driver apologized about the wait, but Natalie shrugged it off, saying that it was 'fine'. They waited at the same spot, until the cars finally began to move. The driver got them close to the front entrance, parking down behind other taxis in front. Wraith opens the door and looks out at the amusement park, it was filled with adults and kids of all ages, everyone enjoying the games, food, and each other's company. Natalie handed the man the money and he drove off, wishing the two a good afternoon.

"What now?" Wraith asks, looking at all the ungodly machines inside that gave her anxiety. The screams didn't make her feel any better either.

"We have fun!" Natalie squealed, dragging Wraith to the entrance and getting the two tickets. Wraith tumbled behind Natalie as the taller, younger blonde led her to rides after rides. It took awhile, but Wraith was having fun, laughing alongside Natalie and strangers alike at the entertainment the amusement park offered. They rode on a hanging ship that went side to side in the air, a rollercoaster that took its time getting them high into the sky before suddenly going downward, another ride that spinned them around, and one of Natalie's favorites; the drop tower. They sat next to each other when the machine strapped all of the passengers, slowly lifting them off in the air. Once at the highest altitude, they all stayed there for a few seconds. For a moment, Wraith thought that was it, until they suddenly dropped all the way down, causing the skirmisher's heart to jump out of place. Everyone screamed except for her, screams of delight, and screams of help. Natalie was the only one laughing, she was laughing so hard that she started snorting. Wraith was getting sick, when she looked at the stranger to her left, she realized they passed out. Their arms flailed up when the drop tower dropped, and when it was coming up for another drop, their arms hung limply on top of Wraith's legs. Wraith closed her eyes when the tower came to the top, suddenly dropping down making Natalie burst out laughing. Wraith made it even worse by closing her eyes, her eyes felt like they were looking into her brain, she had a horrible headache and her stomach was upset.

When the trial finally ended, and the safety holders were off, Wraith stayed on her seat, not moving a single muscle. The person who passed out next to her has yet to awaken. An employee came to check on the two, asking if they need to call the ambulance. Wraith slowly shook her head, Natalie came over to offer her a hand, which Wraith willingly took. The employee shook the stranger who was passed out, their questions of concern being muffled by the crowd that Natalie and Wraith were walking through. Wraith hung her head low, looking down at her feet, her left arm over Natalie's shoulders as the blonde held onto her. The defender finds them a table to rest a bit, setting Wraith down first before she joined next to her.

"Would you like some water?" Natalie asks.

Wraith slightly nodded, her right hand holding her head as she took deep, slow breaths to calm her stomach. Natalie gently patted her back, telling her that she'll be back within a minute. Wraith focused on her breathing, feeling the urge to throw up looming closer. The world around her was spinning, and keeping her eyes closed made her feel worse, so she forced her eyes open, the rotation of everything around her making her feel even more sick. Natalie came running back with an ice cold water bottle.

"Here, drink this."

Wraith took the water bottle and took a few sips, her stomach felt even worse for a few seconds, but then it settled down quick. Everything stopped spinning but she still held on her temples.

"After all the things we've ridden, you get sick on that one..."

"I was not ready for that," Wraith breathed.

"Let's take a break, we've been going on rides non-stop for hours now. We can get food if you're hungry?" Natalie says, sitting across from Wraith.

"Yeah, sounds good," Wraith sighs, taking more sips of water.

Natalie nodded, standing up from the stool. "I'll get us some food, wait here."

Wraith slowly nodded, she rubbed her forehead until the headache had gone away. Idle chatter and laughter surrounded her, screams of joy and cries from children annoyed her. Different staff yelled out foods such as hot dogs or popcorn, others yelled to come and try out their minigames. She watched a few teenagers play a minigame as a group, each of them holding a water gun and shooting at the targets. The targets zig zagged, making it harder to keep the shot straight in the middle. None of them won in the end, and they all paid to retry again. The prizes were stuffed animals and creatures, nothing worth getting, at least for Wraith. She looked over to her left, where a child was crying because their mom wouldn't buy them ice cream. Wraith couldn't help but chuckle at that.

"Oi ya 'ear 'bout ole' Ron? 'Eard news he passed away three days ago."

"Really?! That's too bad..."

Wraith wasn't trying to eavesdrop but they were sitting behind her.

"How did he pass?"

"Beats me, s'body was just found dead in his room. Tol' him not to mess 'round places he shouldn't be at."

A murder? She thought the last sentence over, the only thing she can think about is IMC officers but it wouldn't make sense. Based on what Tae uncovered, the IMC has left the base, and the Facility is back in planet Solace. She was in Talos now, the IMC isn't in this planet, or at least, she hoped they weren't. But if they are... that would mean they formed a new base here. A base she doesn't know about, a base that could have the answers she seeks. But with no knowledge of it being true, she'll just have to expect to find her past in the original Facility she knows. Wraith knows the IMC has taken all their data and lab rats with them to whatever new location they're hiding in, but if anyone can uncover the new secret hideout, it's Tae. And Wraith is damn sure they haven't given up on making another inter-dimensional phaser.

" _Chérie!_ "

Wraith turned around to spot Natalie holding two red and white striped paper plates and a drink. Wraith couldn't help but glare at the older men who looked up at the younger girl, their eyes going downward behind the defender's back when she walked past them.

One of them whistled, "nice cakes."

The other one laughs.

They both noticed Wraith's death stare and looked elsewhere. Natalie sighs and sets a plate down in front of Wraith before taking her own seat across from her.

"...I'm back... are you feeling any better?" Natalie mumbled, clearly upset at the catcall.

Wraith nodded, her mood was foul now that she witnessed disgusting men stare at Natalie's ass and _compliment_ it.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked, placing her hand on top of Wraith's, squeezing it lightly.

"You know what's wrong, they looked at your... behind. Then they have the audacity to compliment it. I want to beat them." Wraith clenched her free hand in a hard fist, the other interlocking with Natalie's hand.

"Oh. Things like that happen all the time, there's nothing we can do, just leave it," Natalie shrugged.

Wraith looked up at her, she looked up at blue eyes that showed off pain. The words ringed back and forth in her head.

' _Things like that happen all the time'_. . .  
 _'happen all the time'_. . .  
' _all the time_ '. . .

"Were you-?" Wraith stopped, staring into Natalie's eyes as they showed sorrow. "Before?" She continued.

Natalie shrugs again, frowning. "It's common, _chérie_. There's nothing we can do to stop it, we just have to move on and-"

Wraith rose up abruptly, her hands smacked the table so hard that she startled the group of strangers that sat beside them. The men looked up when they saw her coming, the closest one, who sat behind her, got a clean punch in the face. The other quickly rose up, his thick accent coming through, Wraith uppercut his stomach and the man coughed out saliva. She quickly took his arm and bent down, pulling with all her might as his body flew upward over hers, throwing him down on the hard floor. Everyone was gasping and screaming, people stopped walking just to watch, kids ran away as they started shouting and crying for their mommies.

"WRAITH STOP!" Natalie yelled.

But Wraith ignored her, her chest heaving as the other guy she punched was running towards her.

"YOU BITCH!"

He thrusted his arm at her, Wraith dodged to the side and kicked his kneecap, causing him to bend over and curse. She took the oppurtunity to punch his face multiple times before being grabbed by the other guy. Wraith moved her leg forward and brought it back, kicking the man's thighs. He bent down to grab his crotch, and Wraith readies up her fist, putting in all her strength to knock a tooth out. He fell down to the side, his dry, cracked lips and gums were bleeding out.

"STOP IT!" Natalie grabs and yanks Wraith's arm, making the skirmisher turn to her. The other man came up behind Natalie and pushed her away, making the blonde tumble to the ground with the sudden force.

"FUCKING WHORE!" He yells, flailing his fists at Wraith, which she kept blocking with her forearms. Wraith kept on blocking, moving backward as she did, waiting for a chance to strike, until the fight was halted with the sound of a whistle.

"Fuck!" He turned tail, pushing through the crowd, leaving Wraith and his buddy alone.

"Come on," Natalie grabs Wraith's arms and pulls her away from the formed crowd, the whistles becoming more frequent.

They pushed through the crowd, making their way out of the amusement park. They didn't stop running until they were out of sight, two streets down away from the park. They take a left turn, crossing the busy street; they kept walking until they made their way to an empty area where no one could see them. Natalie let go and paced back and forth in front of Wraith, until she stopped to face the skirmisher, her hands on her hips.

Wraith could only rub the back of her neck, feeling guilty but also having no regrets.

Natalie brought a finger up, her mouth hanged open, but the words she was looking for was lost. She paced back and forth again, her left hand slowly pushing her bangs back. Natalie sighed, the sigh sounded shaky, and she knew Wraith heard it. The blonde immediately turns away from her, not wanting to show the skirmisher her face. Wraith slowly walks up behind her, her hands hanging either side of her thighs. Wraith looked down at her feet, moving forward to stand next to Natalie and slowly bringing her left pinkie to take hold of Nat's right pinkie.

"Sorry," Wraith mumbled. "I couldn't stand you having to ignore and move on from harassment again."

Natalie took a deep shaky breath, her right hand fully holding onto Wraith's, squeezing it gently. "I-...," she took another shaky breath, trying to calm down, but tears ended up streaming down her cheeks when she tried containing them. "I'm... so mad at you," she laughed lightly. "But I love you so much for defending me."

Wraith scratched her right cheek with her right index finger, facing away from Nat to hide her slight blush. That laugh was enough to remind Wraith why she was willing to pull dumb stunts for someone. She cursed at herself for falling so hard for Natalie, something her and the voices agreed was the best thing she's gotten herself into her entire life. Wraith moved to stand in front of Natalie, wiping the tears away with her thumbs, the skirmisher looking up at Natalie's sorrowful eyes with her lifeless white eyes. "Are you okay? He didn't hurt you, did he?"

Natalie shook her head, smiling. She bows her head down until her forehead was on Wraith's. " _Idiote_ , I should be asking you that." Even more tears began to fall down her cheeks, Wraith just kept wiping them away.

"He's the one who pushed you-"

"And one of them got you!" Natalie raised her voice, unable to control her feelings. "H-he didn't touch you, did he?"

"No, he didn't, I'm fine. I'm more worried about you."

Nat cups Wraith's cheeks, being gentle on the still-healing bruised cheek, she brings their faces closer. " _Dieu que je t'aime..._ "

"You know I can't understand you...," Wraith mumbled, her eyes wandering up and down from Natalie's eyes to her lips. She was still drying off the remaining tears on Natalie's face.

" _Tu êtes impeccable..._ " Natalie whispered, her eyes flicker from Wraith's milky eyes to her lips.

Wraith genuinely smiled, slowly leaning closer, tilting her head and closing her eyes as she went. "Your accent gets me everytime..."

Wraith cupped Natalie's cheeks, bringing the blonde closer to a soft and tender, warm kiss. Natalie's hands roamed down from Wraith's cheeks to her lower-back, finally settling down on her waist to pull Wraith closer for a deeper kiss. Wraith slowly ran her fingers through Natalie's short, puffy hair underneath the defender's beanie. Then both of her arms wrapped around the blonde's neck, pulling her even closer, Wraith could smell the sweet scent of peaches from Natalie's choice of perfume. Their faces getting hotter as their heart rate picks up, both of them having to pull apart from each other to breathe. Natalie giggled when Wraith was breathless, the skirmisher didn't understand why such an action made her knees weak. If only there was a way to still her beating heart, it was spiraling out of control in her chest, pumping wildly at the affection.

" _Calme-toi_! You're looking redder than Elliott when he drinks too much!" Natalie tittered.

"Me?!" Wraith pointed at her chest, her face growing hotter by the second. "Look at you! You're just as red!"

Natalie turned away, fanning at herself. "I am n-not!"

It was nice, for Wraith, to find someone where she could be... anyone, anything, her true self. Her true hidden identify, that Wraith believed would drag her down and make her weak if she didn't let go. She had to grow strong quickly, for her own sake, to find the answers, and to protect herself from going back to that hell of a Facility. But with Natalie... she doesn't have to worry about anything, because Natalie was much like her. An embarrassed dork, too cute to be real, something they can both agree on to say to each other. And while it might've made Wraith look silly since it wasn't like her at all, it was something so little that had a big impact that Natalie appreciated. Natalie loves it in fact, the defender vows to _protect_ it. The vulnerable side of Wraith, the kind and cute side of her. The thing only the defender knew that no one else would know, all for her own eyes and ears. Natalie counted herself lucky that out of everyone, Wraith chose her. And since the skirmisher decided to choose her out of everyone, Natalie made a silent promise to herself, in her own mind, that she will always cherish her, no matter what Wraith chooses to be, Natalie would back her up. Natalie can spot a good heart when she sees it, and that energy radiates largely around Wraith. The skirmisher has the ability to love, an ability unmatched by others, the burning passion to cherish.

Wraith smiled, finally, her muscles relaxed. She felt safe, she _was_ safe. She found so many reasons to live life now and to take consideration of her own safety. For the sake of Natalie and her concerns, for her chronic worries, Wraith will promise to give herself a break. She finally found a good and better reason on why she's staying in the Apex Games', it wasn't just to stay close to the IMC, it wasn't just to be shown on live TV, hoping for a relative or an old friend to reach out to her. No, Wraith found something else, something better. The Legends has asked her several times, told her several times, that they'll be her family, but they weren't her home. The place was never hers, never meant to be hers. Her place was elsewhere, with someone, and that person alone. Her other reasoning to stay in the Games was to come home to Natalie. Natalie was always her home, she just had to unlock that option. And what a home it is, what a home it will be. Wondrous, splendid- messy, but filled with love; love they will both fill out for each other to use without limits. A gauge they'll fill up anytime of the day, every day of the week.

"What now?" Wraith asks, crossing her arms and looking away, not risking another blush just to look at Natalie's adorable features.

Natalie grinned, "the day isn't over yet! I still have plans!"

Wraith smiled and shook her head, extending her hand out for Natalie to take. "Lead the way."

"We didn't eat the food back there, how about we have lunch in a nice little diner?" Natalie winked, taking hold of Wraith's hand.

"That sounds lovely."

And with that, the two went off to a coffee shop where they had amazing coffee, delicious sandwiches, and had an engaging time together with their mutual feelings sparking more than it had since the start of the day. Natalie and Wraith walked out of the shop with their coffee in hand, their arms locked together, strolling down the sidewalk as they watched the scenery. The distant large city buildings with the windows reflecting the sunset sky, the hills and forest in the distance, the park and large duck pond over to their right, street performers doing their fancy tricks on their left. It was nice, relaxing, and most of all, it was lovely. Wraith wasn't much of a people-person, and she didn't go out much, or at all, but this changed her. She wanted to do this every other week with Natalie, just taking a break of everything, to be themselves, to _love_ each other without worrying about being caught. This was them.

The sunset has officially disappeared within the horizon, the two woman making their way back to the airlines. It was fine for them to be late, they had an extra thirty minutes. Natalie kept worrying about the time though, speed walking a bit since she didn't want to get in trouble. They waited under a street lamp, standing at the corner of the sidewalk, waiting for the cars to stop driving through the street they wanted to cross to. Wraith pushed her bangs out of her eyes, shoving her hands down in her pockets. Natalie had her own hands in her pockets, the city has gone a bit chillier once night settled in. Natalie kept looking at her watch, tapping her foot on the pavement as they waited for the walking symbol to light up. Once it lit up, Natalie speedwalked through the road, Wraith following suit.

"Slow down a bit, we'll make it."

"You never know if something turns up, _chérie_."

They passed the last few shops they remember seeing when they took the taxi, the airline base finally coming into view. That's when Natalie finally walked in a normal pace, looking at her watch again to make sure they weren't late. They talked about the things they've done today and how much fun they had, the two laughing about a misfortunate stranger.

"His face when the dog jumped on the bench and took his food!" Natalie snorted.

"What was funnier was when he chased after the dog and tripped in his own shoes," Wraith puffs.

"My favorite part about today has got to be...," Natalie rested a finger on her chin to think. "When you punched those guys for harassing me."

"They deserved it," Wraith crossed her arms.

"Let's just hope you don't get in deep trouble for that."

"Anything is worth it if it means protecting you," Wraith goes through her pockets to pull out her ID since they were getting closer to the dropship.

Natalie does the same. "You're so sweet."

Their pilot spotted them from the lobby, looking at their wristwatch and nodding. They asked for their IDs, both women bringing them up for a scan. The pilot finishes up the scan and sits down in the front, locking the ship down and preparing it for takeoff. Natalie held onto Wraith, the skirmisher not minding the closeness. As the pilot switches wings, causing the aircraft to rumble and bump, Natalie had a death grip on Wraith's arm. Wraith still found it cute, but Natalie's hold was really strong and it was hurting her. It was a quiet ride that night, Nat settled down first, napping on Wraith's shoulder. Wraith was tired too, but she waited until she went inside. The dropship would slowly make its way inside the ship, which the employees of the hangar closed the hatch behind them as their personal pilot announces they have landed. Natalie whined and rubbed her eyes, she looked at Wraith confusingly only to be told that they were home.

"Already?!" Natalie sits up away from Wraith's hold, looking around them for their pilot.

Wraith frowned at the sudden loss of touch. "You fell asleep, what did you expect?"

Natalie yawned, still looking around for their pilot.

"He's gone, we have a minute to ourselves before they check up on us," Wraith mumbled, bringing Natalie closer.

" _Tu n'as pas à me le dire deux fois_ ," Natalie gently caressed Wraith's chin, slightly turning the skirmisher to face her. The skirmisher cocked her head to the side, smiling into Natalie's lips, they only gave each other quick pecks on the lips.

Natalie broke away first, leaving the dropship with Wraith alongside her. When they walked out of the ramp, they noticed the employees coming over to check on them, until they saw the two that they turned around. Close call. They made their way back to the lobby where they saw a few Legends chatting around with each other. They both ignored any of them, heading up the stairs instead. Wraith had to leave first, seeing that her dorm was in the third floor and Natalie was on the fourth. Natalie gave Wraith a hug, which the skirmisher reciprocated, waving after the blonde who tiredly yawned again. Wraith pulled out her keys and twisted it in inside the lock, turning the knob and walking inside. She leaned her back on the door, looking upward and sighing with a smile.

Wraith felt like she'll have a good mood the entire week, maybe it'll last for two weeks. She's never felt this happy before, this happy to fall in _love_ and finally get to kiss the person she liked. It was odd for Wraith to act this way, even to herself, but the skirmisher is willing to do anything for Natalie and no one else. She would be more careful, a self promise for the blonde's sake, but if the time needs it, Wraith is willing to sacrifice anything to protect that smile.

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if it's super rushed at the end, I'll do better next time.
> 
> [Sep 22nd, 2020] update, I will come back to make this chapter longer one day.


	8. Sorrow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 5:30

It was pouring harshly, the dark clouds in the dead of night shining only for a moment as a faint crackle could be heard in the distance. They ran inside a small cave, sheltering themselves from the rain and the chase. Tae sat down to catch his breath, he looked over at Wraith, who stood at the entrance. Her left fist was clenched tight, Tae could see the slight shake of her body and he knew it wasn't because she was cold. He looked out to the dark world of Solace, looking out to see any flashing lights in the distance. But there was none to be seen, not yet anyways, he knew they were still on their trail however. He calms his breathing first, before looking up at Wraith again. Wraith's wet bangs made it hard for him to see her face, but he already knew what she was feeling.

"This isn't...," he let out a breath, hesitating. He held back, not knowing what to say. He was hurt too, but it couldn't compare to what Wraith is feeling now. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's my fault, I planned things horribly."

Wraith shook her head, her bangs sticking to her face as she moved further away from Tae. "It's not your fault, it's mine."

Silence. What could he say right now? They were both feeling the same thing. It was a difficult night, things didn't go as planned and they got caught. Soldiers chased them out with bullets whiffing by the two, they were lucky to still be alive. Fortunately for them, the rain made them even harder to target, and the dark helped them escape and gain some distance. They didn't get any intel, the data Tae wants to desperately collect, the past Wraith wanted to uncover so badly. It would have to wait... but when were they going back? The Facility will surely barricade it's entrances and put up even more soldiers, and what's more... what had happened in there...

"It'll be harder to get inside next time now that they're on alert. What will you do now?"

"Find the lead scientist, I want to know who's in charge of my project..." Wraith croaked, still staring out into the distance.

Tae nodded, looking forward again. "Then what?"

"Kill every last one of them!" Wraith yelled in a raspy voice.

Tae nodded again, understanding her feelings. It was more than revenge, more than avenge, it was justice. And while the world will view it as a brutal massacre, if they knew the full context, it would be counted as justice. It wouldn't be in retaliation, and it wouldn't be counted as self-defense. The actions Wraith wanted to do would be counted under righteousness. Natalie would surely hate to see her this way, she would hate to see what Wraith will become. But the defender has no say in it, no one does, nothing will change Wraith now.

"This is the dark side that I wish to uncover and spread. This is the truth about them."

"Wait," Wraith turned to him, her eyes were red indicating that she was crying before. "You already knew this?"

Tae stood up and waved his hands at her. "No, no! It isn't like that! I just had my suspicions.... but now they confirmed it. I had a similar situation happen to me... I lost too."

"Sorry," Wraith mumbled, looking away now.

"Don't be, we both have the same path. They showed their true side, so now I don't have to hold back anymore. I might end up killing everyone as well," Tae sighed, nearing closer to the entrance, he turned to Wraith, who was crying again. "The same path, but one which we will have to seperate. If you're serious about taking the IMC out... I'll help you out one last time."

"Thank you.."

Tae smirked, putting his hand on Wraith's back for comfort. "They know about us, we can't go back. We'll have to stick together now."

Wraith wiped her tears away, she stared down at her feet as Tae's hand slid off from her back.

"I've made modifications on my own body, I can make a bodysuit for you. It'll take months to create, maybe even a year, but the wait will be worth it. You can't go in there to kill the IMC with your clothing, you'll die."

"I'll just phase in and out, nothing difficult."

Tae shook his head at her. "We both know you can't protect yourself with your powers alone. You've still yet to master it."

Wraith let out a breath, he was right, she would die before she could uncover the lead of her project. She could only phase every twenty seconds, running through the void for a short moment. It wasn't enough time to get away, and it wasn't long enough for Wraith to be safe either. Creating a portal only lasted a minute, recharging took three minutes, and the portal has a limit of one-hundred meters. Well, that's as far Wraith could go anyways, any longer than that and she'll be in pain.

"Don't worry, we'll get them. We will make them **pay** ," Tae scrunched his eyebrows, his eyes glowing and glaring.

Wraith sensed his anger, it was undeniable. They both put up and suffered differently, but they ended up walking the same path. The same path, but different targets. Wraith's case was more difficult, and much more worse than Tae. At least Tae had some hope for himself and his foster sister, Mila, but he knew she wasn't just kidnapped. He knew she was alive, he just can't confirm that yet until he gets closer to the Syndicate. Meanwhile, Wraith would have to face every department of the IMC, and no doubt Anita Williams will be her obstacle once the soldier hears the news of tonight's event.

"They didn't hesitate, despite the status. They were in the same _group_ , and yet...," Wraith grit her teeth. "I will get him! I swear it!"

"I know him. He's the leader of the Syndicate, Jacob Young. He worked alongside Luc Paquette in creating the ring. They built the Apex Games together."

Wraith shook her head, walking out into the rain knowing that fact.

"Wraith?" Tae watched as Wraith stood out in the rain, looking up at the sky with her eyes closed. But he knew, he knew to leave her alone, she needed the moment. Now that they weren't being chased anymore, Wraith could properly grief. The moment replayed over and over in his head, he couldn't help but let a tear fall. Tae was sure he moved on from emotions, leaving them all behind to get stronger, but it looks like he hasn't left them behind after all. Their connection wasn't that strong, Tae never wanted to be close in the first place, but he never realized how much of an impact it did to him after what happened.

It would be difficult to move on and forget, even for him. He didn't get to witness it in front of him, but he saw it through the cameras. It was gruesome, merciless, horrible. A very clean shot at that, too. He could only imagine what they've done to Mila, but he tried not to delve into that. For now, Tae just sat at the end of the cave, leaning against the rock. He looked up at Wraith once again, who was still looking up at the dark, rainy sky. Light emitted through the clouds, lighting up the world. Lightning crepitated even louder now, the skirmisher not giving a damn at the ear-popping volume. She suffered there, alone in the rain, relieving out her depression. Soon, one day, anger will take its place of her sorrows. Her fury, her wrath, her resentment for the IMC... they wouldn't see it coming. None of them will; the scientists, the soldiers, not even Amer Singh.... This was the new beginning for vengeful Wraith, the Wraith who will really come out to kill everyone who did her wrong, who made her suffer. The defender, Natalie Paquette, would hate to see her this way. And Tae knew that, and he knew that Wraith knew that, but seeing how things turned out this way... Natalie will have to endure the disappointment. Because not even the ray of light will convince Wraith to reconsider.


	9. Forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [Sep 22nd, 2020] update, I ACCIDENTALLY FUCKING DELETED THE REVISED VERSION OF CHAPTER 9, NOOOOOOOOOO. I WAS TRYING TO COPY MY TEXT TO PASTE HERE AND IDK WHY I PRESSED DELETE. I'll try to see what needs to be revised another time 😭
> 
> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 49 minutes

" **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The cafeteria is now open, you may now pick up and order food.** "

The announcement woke Wraith up from her slumber, the skirmisher grumbling as she turned to her left to look at the time. But then she remembered, she unplugged her clock an hour ago when the alarm bothered her. She tossed and turned until she got comfortable again, shutting her eyes to fall back asleep. The voices has been quiet for a while, too long actually. It made Wraith anxious but it didn't worry her. Maybe they were tired themselves, maybe every other Wraith was still sleeping. She wondered when Natalie was coming by with breakfast, maybe Wraith shouldn't have requested food from the blonde. Actually, she took that back, she didn't request it, Natalie asked first and Wraith accidentally agreed because she wasn't listening. And now that Natalie was in her mind, Wraith couldn't help but think about the younger woman. Her perky lips, her scar, her freckles, her short puffy hair that worked so well with her features. That cursed smile in the Apex Games weeks ago that Wraith _still_ couldn't let go of. Each of them, along with the adorable moments Wraith has witnessed of Natalie, just made her heart ache even more. She starved for the blonde's company again, thinking about the date yesterday. The _kiss_.

Wraith smiled into her pillow, burying her face into it before she took the pillow and placed it over her head instead. This wasn't like her, it wasn't at all, but everytime she thought about Natalie, she gets like this. Wraith didn't hate it, the feeling was amazing and she couldn't get enough of it. She only hated it when it made her embarrassed at the worst timing. Natalie is special, there's simply too much to love about her. Wraith just wished she realized it sooner. Well, Wraith _liked_ the appearance of Natalie, she couldn't deny that the blonde was indeed cute but thought nothing more of it. The skirmisher wasn't one to be close to anyone, so when Natalie joined up with the Legends, Wraith didn't care too much. Natalie was just another new contestant for Wraith to beat, that's all it was. The blonde is the friendly type too, able to adapt with new people very quickly and making everyone love her instantly. She kept her distance from Wraith though, maybe the other Legends warned the defender about her, maybe Natalie was afraid of Wraith at first. The two only got close once Season three began, when they were put in a team together. That's when the feeling in Wraith's chest began to go out of control and distract her, when she finally realized she was in love with the young defender.

Wraith will one day come to know that the reason why Natalie was afraid to approach her was because Wraith was her crush _before_ she joined the Games. Their feelings for one-another were mutual, but nothing happened between the two for several months. Just stolen glances from time to time and that was it. Wraith slightly hated eliminating the blonde during the Games, and Natalie would always hesitate shooting the skirmisher because of how stunning she was. The spark of magic was always there between them, but they were both hopeless and useless, Wraith especially. Wraith is the more disastrous one of the two. However, both of them should count each other lucky for not knowing how much the other completes them. Either one filling out the needs and wants of the other.

She wondered when Natalie would come over... Nat usually came a little sooner before the announcement. Unless she was cooking something bigger and it's stalling some time.... Wraith wasn't sure, but she misses her. She would get up herself to check up on her but Wraith was feeling incredibly tired. Tired for no reason, most mornings were like this, Wraith knows it isn't about how _long_ she slept, it was something else. She couldn't put her finger at it, but if she had to guess, it had something to do with her mental health, or maybe it was the dorm... Truthfully the dorm never made Wraith feel happy. Everytime she enters, she gets instantly depressed again. Maybe because the dorm felt empty to her, maybe the reason is because it isn't her own home. Maybe she'll be happier if she moves to a new planet, one that doesn't have the IMC in it, one that wouldn't remind her of her tragic event. A place her and Natalie would enjoy together, away from everything that could bring their moods down. They'd have each other to love, and be happy, cuddling on the couch as they watched dumb shows they wouldn't pay any mind to, slowly falling asleep and then she'd wake up to find Natalie making dinner.

_You're doing it again._

Wraith took each side of her pillow and further pressed the pillow downward, muffling her scream hoping that it would drown out the silly thoughts that made her feel giddy. It worked, for about a second, before her thoughts were swarming with different scenarios of her and Natalie again that weren't real. Some scenarios had Wraith going on a casual date with Natalie, only they were walking around places with beautiful sceneries. Others were Wraith looking around stores all by herself trying to find the perfect gift. One scenario had Wraith hiding a box of engagement rings as she spent the entire day trying to get the perfect moment to ask the question but chickened out because she was too panicked to even ask. One special thought was Natalie doing the proposal herself, which made Wraith melt and die from overwhelming feelings of love. And majority of the thoughts was Wraith spending her life with Natalie in their own home sometime in the future, married, just doing cute things together. But the one thought that killed Wraith's heart everytime was her waking up the next day after their wedding, and Wraith waited around until Natalie woke up herself, just so Wraith could say for the first time on their newly beginning life together, "good morning _wife_."

_You're still thinking about her._

Wraith threw her pillow across the room and smacked her cheeks twice with her palms to get the thoughts out of her head. Sitting up, she plugged in her alarm clock and watched as the numbers flashed multiple times before showing off the correct time.

8:07am.

Wraith began to get ready for the day, starting off by making herself a cup of coffee. She takes the coffee kettle and empties it, rinsing the container twice before putting it back in place. She brings the machine forward, opening the lid up to carefully remove the filter without making a mess. She threw the container in the garbage, going back in front of the machine, she takes a china and fills it up with water until the measurement was filled up to 2. Wraith opened up a cabinet near the machine, taking a container of ground coffee and a single paper filter. She pulled the lid off of the ground coffee container and grabbed a spoon from the utensils cabinet. She scooped enough ground coffee to make herself two cups of coffee for today; turning the machine on AUTO and putting everything away, Wraith goes to hop on her couch to watch TV. The show that was being broadcast right now was a guy with weird blonde hair and sunglasses who was convinced every woman wanted her, but he was always too busy loving himself. Wraith couldn't understand the appeal of it, so she skimmed through the channels until she stopped at a news one.

"At least over thirty-five hundred cases of people infected with a newly found deadly virus in a single _day_! Scientists have reported that there is no known cure as of yet and the virus is quite contagious, able to kill you within three weeks! Studies have shown that you will not see or feel any symptoms until a week later when it is already too late."

The coffee machine beeped three times indicating that it finished pouring the hot substance. Wraith stood up and opened up her fridge to take the milk out, she poured the freshly brewed coffee first before putting a bit of milk in. She twists the cap back on the gallon of milk and brings the pot of sugar close to her, taking a spoonful of it and dropping it onto her cup of coffee. Wraith takes the china on her right hand and the gallon of milk on her left, opening the fridge up with her pinkie and ring finger with her left hand and putting the milk back on the top shelf. She closes her fridge and sat back down on the couch, setting the china down on the table as she mixed her coffee to disolve the sugar. Wraith taste-tested her coffee, it was bitter, earthy, just hard enough to give her the energy she needs to get through the day. She nodded and set the china down on the table, switching the channel until she found something interesting to watch. Wraith stopped at a channel that showed off a set of expensive jewelry of each category: rings, bracelets, necklaces, and earrings. Giving it a thought, Natalie doesn't wear jewelry, so maybe she wouldn't like a gift revolving around jewels. But the rings caught Wraith's attention, especially the silver band aquamarine ring. Wraith hasn't seen all available colors of each band and the different diamonds, but she was sure Natalie would look pretty in any color, though aquamarine seems like it would compliment her beauty a lot more than she does so herself. The aquamarine ring also matched Wraith's eyes, so that was a cute thought too, both of them wearing rings of their partners eye colors.

_Here we go again._

Wraith shook her head and immediately switched the channel to a cooking show. A slim asian woman prepared various ingredients needed in order to do the recipe. She began by cleaning the chicken before cutting them into small pieces and placing them into a bowl. She added two tablespoons of starch into the bowl and mixed it with the chicken for about two minutes. She grabbed another bowl and put a red cube inside of it, crushing it with a fork.

"Prepare a piece of red bean curd and crush it. Next, add one spoon of old soy, two tablespoons cooking wine, one spoonful of oyster sauce, add a moderate amount of pepper, and stir well!"

Wraith got hungry and changed the channel, she wasn't the type to cook nor cared about it. Watching the asian chef cook was interesting, she'll admit, but she still couldn't find the appeal of preparing something that takes about ten minutes to make, and then watch it cook for about half an hour. She couldn't understand why people put their time and effort to make food that they love to eat. Sure, eating food containing all of your favorites in your preference of how cooked it is tastes _amazing_ , but why waste so much time to eat something you'll finish off in five minutes? Wraith couldn't imagine herself doing all that work for three times a day just to finish it very quickly, she would rather open up a bag of crackers and call it a meal. At least she was extremely lucky to have Natalie, the blonde claims to not be the best cook, but Wraith enjoyed eating her creations. Eating it three times a day was a dream come true, but it'd be too much work for the young defender. Poor girl is already busy enough with her nerdy tech stuff, or work she's being commissioned on from higher-ups who recognizes her genius.

_You can't go five minutes without thinking about her._

_Just go see her._

Wraith ignored the voices and picked up her china to take a sip of her coffee.

"Nine out of ten dentists recommend this brand!"

_You're worried._

"I'm not," Wraith sighs, lounging on the couch as her waist sank past the seat.

"-reat deal this weekend with 15% off on tops! Get 10% off on jeans!"

_You really do have it bad._

_Just go check up on her._

Wraith turned up the volume and switched to a different channel, landing on another news one.

"A soldier has been missing for over thirty-two hours at the Syndicate headquarters. Security has reviewed the footage time and time again, but all the cameras were offline at the time. Witnesses have said they spotted a black figure outside, but it was dark, and the rain helped them get away. However, it isn't over yet, as agents are now looking into the footprints left behind by the culprit due to the mud."

Wraith shut the TV off and stood up to grab her hair tie on her bedside table. She left her bangs out as she grabbed the rest of her hair in a handful and pulled it back, gently smoothing any strands that poked out. Wraith ties her hair in a knot and made her way to the bathroom to brush her teeth. Grabbing her toothbrush and squeezing the toothpaste, Wraith went back to the pile of clothes on the ground next to her bed. She threw around every top, pants, socks, and undergarments in search of her scarf, but then she just remembered. Wattson took it away yesterday. Wraith went back to the bathroom and hurriedly washed her mouth off, inspecting her tongue and the cracks of her tooth for any more plaque. She washed her hands with soap and dried them off with a towel hanging on a rack before preparing herself to leave her dorm. It wasn't because she wanted to see Natalie, Wraith just wanted her scarf back.... Which is what she's telling herself, but in reality, Wraith really did wanted to see the blonde. Then again, Wraith was a little anxious, the thought of seeing Natalie everyday bothered her. Surely the young defender needs at least _a day_ away from Wraith, right? So the thought of Wraith seeing Natalie everyday, she was worried of having the defender get annoyed.

But the voices always has different things to say when it comes to Wraith and her own thoughts.

_You're fine._

_Natalie isn't the type to take a break from someone for a day._

_I think you need to learn how to go without her for twelve hours._

Wraith just ignored them, they were most likely in the same route as her, being worried, being overwhelmed with love, wanting to see Natalie. It's her after all, Wraiths from different universes and timelines. Really, the more Wraith thinks about her powers and the different dimensions, the more she's convinced that no matter what, there is _no_ original Wraith. She knows other Wraiths has died, all their known knowledge being noted and transferred to other Wraiths, which is why the voices in the void warn her of such events. If a Wraith dies and loses the Apex Games', the voices would warn her to take an alternate route. A route that has also been done by another Wraith in another dimension who will _also_ warn her if things go wrong. That's what made Wraith the strongest legend, because she was able to detect and adapt, being the first to know everything and being the last one standing to win. While she hasn't really died yet in real time outside of the Games, Wraith knew, she knows that it's coming. She'll become one of them. The voices of the void.

Wraith fit her right boot and tied the laces, standing up to kick her feet further in; specks of dirt and flattened pieces of dried mud fell off the soles. She moves out of her dorm and locks the door, making her way up the stairs when she spots Alexander coming up from the lower floor. He was in his yellow stained tank-top as usual, with his trousers and dirty socks and slippers. He had a half-eaten corn dog in hand, as always, he's always eating a corn dog.

"Dad," Wraith half-greeted, smiling, knowing that calling Alex "dad" pisses him off.

"I'm not your father," he grumbles and passes by Wraith, going up the stairs himself where his dorm was located.

Wraith knocks on the first door on the right and waited patiently. She never really realized it before, but this is her first time ever knocking on someone else's door. Wraith never had a legitimate reason to, why would she knock on someone's door for? To chat with them? She wasn't the chatterbox type and everyone knew that, so nobody bothered her unless it was something important. Except for Anita and Elliott, those two would come by every now and then to check up on her, but Anita bothered her only to invite her for a duel. While Elliott was worried about Wraith's health and her distant behavior. He understands that Wraith is distant, but he goes on to say that sometimes, just sometimes, Wraith is more distant than usual, and that worries him. Even though he can be annoying, Wraith appreciates him, and while she will never admit it in his face, she really did count Elliott as a good friend.

She knocked again, and a little harder this time, giving it some time before she knocked for the third time. When Natalie wasn't answering, Wraith just left to make sure she wasn't hanging out in the lobby. Upon arriving at the lobby, Pathfinder immediately spots her, and makes the entire group look at her. Wraith ignored them, scanning the entire room for a orange jacket, but she didn't find Natalie. Ajay grabs her attention by calling her, the doctor waving her hand for Wraith to come over, but the skirmisher really didn't want to. Makoa chimed in, his hands proudly presenting what they were doing. They were playing cards. There was also some food left, Elliott was busy stuffing his face with porkchops, which wasn't surprising.

"Come join us brotha! It'll be fun!"

Wraith waved her hand and shook her head, "I'm okay, I was just... looking."

"You lost something, sugah?" Ajay asked, blowing a bubble of gum.

Wraith fucked herself, but then she remembered that her neck is bare and open. "Er, my scarf."

"Oh yeah... I was wondering what was different about you," Makoa rubbed his chin, squinting his eyes at Wraith.

"Yeah right, like as if your scarf would be down here," Elliott winked at her, then he yelped and his knee hit the table. Looks like Ajay stepped on his foot.

"People can steal," she brought a finger up at him.

"Who would steal from Wraith? Wraith would _kill_ you if you touch her scarf!"

Ajay shrugged, "maybe she dropped it and a staff member sweeped it away, who knows."

Makoa took a card from the deck and shuffled the cards in his hands around. "Ye brotha, I'm sure there's a lost and found somewhere."

"You guys really don't.... y-you guys don't...?" Elliott gave up, taking his faced-down cards and shuffling them across his hands.

"Don't what?" Ajay asked, but Elliott told her to forget it.

"Big sister, you do not wish to hang out with us?" Pathfinder slightly cocks his head as his screen showed question marks.

An arrow shot through Wraith's heart, she forgot about their last exchange. "Not today Path, sorry." His screen changing from questions marks to sad faces made her upset but Wraith knew he'd be okay for a day.

"Did ya eat today?" Ajay asked, taking a card from the deck as well.

"No, I haven't... yet. But I'll be fine, I really have to go look for my scarf."

Everyone bid their farewell, everyone except Elliott, who winked and wiggled his eyebrows. He mouthed something very slowly at her, which Wraith could understand. He mouthed 'Natalie,' and when she got that, he winked again and gave her a thumbs up, earning a blush from Wraith. Whether he really knew or not, he already suspected the two. It's all her fault for making her interest in the blonde very obvious when he told her that Natalie was with him outside Wraith's door, and Wraith scrambled out too quickly. It was just one time, and that hardly said anything about them, but he still got it. That really annoyed Wraith.

Wraith only shook her head at him and left, having nowhere to go or check on for Natalie's whereabouts... unless she was deep asleep. Wraith really didn't know a single thing about Natalie's schedule, and she knows the girl gets commissioned or called by other fellow smart nerds in high-class researches or engineering. So maybe the reason why Natalie is out and nowhere to be found is that. She knows she could simply just ask the group if they've seen her but that would be a little suspicious, maybe. Wraith really couldn't picture what would happen if everyone knew about them. It didn't matter to her, what others think, yet at the same time Wraith was so afraid of the comments the other Legends would come up with. It wasn't only towards her, but she was also scared of what the others would say about Natalie as well. Wraith will never truly grasp the full understanding of these types of things but... she believed the things she was thinking and feeling were right. To be aware, to be protective of their images, to be quick in protecting Natalie from nasty comments. No, especially Natalie. Poor Nat is already afraid and self-conscious about her body. When she told Wraith her fear of what other's might say if they knew she was missing an arm...

As silly as it might sound to anyone, Wraith could understand. Wraith had scars of her own, but when it comes to spotting one on someone else's body, it's... odd. Even if it isn't her body, she still feels the slight pain of the scar like as if it was on her own. Sometimes Wraith would find herself staring at the scar of a stranger, she didn't know why, it was just an eye-catcher, but she didn't find it disgusting. The stranger and Natalie are two different people, and Natalie is a meaningful person to her, so of course, when Wraith sees the defender's Lichtenberg scar... it sparks a different feeling entirely. It isn't Wraith finding it off, or gross, or anything bad of the sorts. Rather, the opposite, it suited the blonde, it made her cuter, and that's Wraith being honest. The skirmisher could only imagine how long it stretches... what Natalie's arm looks like. If Wraith had to be honest, truthfully she'd take a second to take the accident in. But once that's over, Wraith knows the first thing she'll do when Natalie reveals her arm and entire scar is to kiss the entire thing. It will never be about loving the fact Natalie got hurt, it's loving the scar to have Natalie know that it isn't ugly. Loving it so that Natalie gets the message that Wraith still loved her despite the scar taking a chunk of her body. Kissing it so that it heals, and while it will never fade, the least Wraith could do is love something Natalie hated. Who knows, maybe Wraith will make Natalie love her scar.

Wraith would also make sure that there is nothing to be afraid about, because she has her own scars too. None of them by accidents, but rather, curious doctors wanting to know the effects of their medicine. The different drugs each of them concocted, their list of formulas they scratched off. Keeping track of symptoms and the duration, noting down on their notepad for anything new, or problems, such as nosebleeds. The thicker needles left scars on her skin, the worst drugs engraved bruises on her elbow. But the worst of all, that Wraith couldn't erase, was her asset ID located at the top of her back. 61137 was carved out on a metal stick, then the tip with the numbers was being heated with over a thousand degrees. Wraith was held down by two different IMC guards, pinning her body down and restraining her arms so she wouldn't flail. The pressure of their weight hurt her chest and her chin. Slowly, the third IMC soldier moves the stick forward. It hasn't touched her yet, but Wraith could feel the heat from her back. When the stick came into contact, Wraith squirmed and screamed, the IMC guards quickly let her go when it was over, which only lasted about two seconds. They left her to scream, echoing into the large dome-like room. She didn't dare move at the time, she just remembers her hands wanting to touch the area, to stop the burning. But Wraith knew it would make things worse. She wouldn't stop crying for months, the burn lasted for a lifetime even when she took her usual cold showers.

Her scars could never compare to Natalie's, Natalie _lost_ a limb. But one day, Wraith will let Natalie know that it's okay to be comfortable and show off her skin around her. Her prosthetic arm. She would vow to protect the younger blonde, vow to defend her, and vow to love her forever. It was the only thing Wraith could give back to the defender for making her feel happiness.

Wraith was on the second floor, opening the metal doors to the firing range. Anita was already there, shooting her G7 Scout as always, going for the farthest target with iron sights. Wraith walked over to the weapon rack, watching carefully as Anita took a deep breath and took a shot. She scored a seventy-four, and fist pumped the air with a laugh. Wraith was impressed, grabbing a Longbow from the rack. She stood next to Anita, catching the soldier by surprise for not noticing the skirmisher. Anita smiled at her, bringing her G7 up and aiming down at her target again.

"Morning Wraith, good to see you back here," she kept her arms steady as she took a deep breath. With her left eye closed and her concentration focused on the target, Anita took another shot, and scored a fifty-one.

"Thought I'd give myself something to do since I'm having a slow morning," Wraith rolled her shoulders and steadied herself, closing her left eye and firing after taking a second. She only scored a thirty-nine, still pretty good for a first shot of the day.

"Huh," Anita put her G7 away and grabbed a Hemlok, switching it to single mode. "You know if you need something to do, you could always come by to spar."

"I wouldn't ask for it myself, and I wouldn't turn it down if you asked, but now I'm going to have to avoid it entirely. You'll have to find a new training partner now."

Anita turned to Wraith confusingly, then she turned her head at the target Wraith just took a shot of. Wraith got a lucky headshot, earning one-hundred six points.

"You won't spar with me anymore?"

Wraith lowered her Longbow and shook her head. "I really don't want anymore senseless bruises just to see who's the better fighter. I'm obviously the better fighter, I always win."

"You always win because you're faster and smaller, and I never give it my all. I can prove to you that I can beat your ass to the ground and become the strongest Legend, I've earned my stripes after all."

"Then beat me in a gun fight next game, your team against mine, let's change the rules back to normal," Wraith brings the sniper's iron sights over her right eye, looking at her target at least three-hundred meters away.

"It's on, a gun battle is what I'm good at. Your team will disappear before my face even shows up, you guys have no idea how synchronized my team is. Our teamwork is flawless, I couldn't be more proud of my squadmates."

And Wraith couldn't be even _more_ prouder of her own squadmates. Anita might think her team is superior in battle, which is almost correct, Wraith knows how the soldier's team performs and yes, Wraith can confirm, Anita's squad is quite scary. But Wraith? With Blothhundr? That's all it takes, just Wraith and Bloth, back to back, taking on the entire lobby. They never speak to one-another, never coming up with plans or knowing each other's tactics. They just do what they do best, eliminate their targets, but somehow, they work with each other without asking for help. And the results are piles of deathboxes in their path. Bloth's ability to uncover enemies in the area, Wraith moving in from an unexpected spot and shooting them down. Bloth tracking squads down with their passive, Wraith following suit, both of them shooting the squad they chased for so long and moving on to chase the next squad. The perfect and deadliest duo the Games mistakenly put together, they would have absolutely zero losses if it weren't for Wraith getting distracted over Natalie's attractiveness.

Of course she hasn't forgotten about Natalie, neither of them did, her and Bloth. There's just nothing about Natalie that makes her big yet, she isn't threatening to anyone. In fact, even if Natalie was threatening, every other Legend would probably still treat her as a baby. Not that any of them infantized her, it's more like, Natalie is the youngest, therefore she is "baby." Natalie is also incredibly kind and cute, her personality is bright and bubbly, so she automatically earned the title "baby" by everyone. Knowing Nat, she would probably never be threatening, she's one of the only few Legends who has fun in the Games. Always smiling, always being excited, never getting upset or angry after a loss, she just moved forward with a laugh. Wraith loved that about her, it was something different than what she usually sees. Everyone is sweaty and competitive, after a loss, other Legends got aggressive and even swears at others, picking a fight with them or pushing each other around. Things always gets heated, but ever since Natalie came in Season Two, she just... made jokes here and there and brought the mood down. Soon, everyone got in good spirits because of her.

. . .

After being in the firing range for about an hour and a half with Anita, Wraith once again poked her head around the corner of the lobby in search of Natalie. But she wasn't there, and luckily Wraith wasn't spotted that time, so she left immediately before she could. She made her way back to her room and already felt the depression sink into her body. The feeling of emptiness everytime she enters her room. Wraith laid down on the couch and took the pillow on the other side and set it under head head for some cushion. She grabs the TV remote once again and turns the TV on, the channel being left on a news one. The reporter was talking about politics and system changes that was being talked about around the politicians and councilmen. Wraith didn't care, she just switched the channel until she stopped on a movie she's never seen before. The movie had these white robots and men with robes, carrying a stick that would extend to a longer, highlighted stick. Wraith was intrigued, but she'd lose focus on bits of the movie the longer she watched. It wasn't boring, she was just getting drowsy... for no real reason. Wraith always gets tired the longer she stays in her room, it must be a bad sign to continue to live in the room, but it's not like switching rooms would solve the problem. It was either her or the room, Wraith couldn't point her finger at the correct one. She tried keeping her eyes open but eventually it got harder to, the volume of the movie becoming more distant, her vision growing darker.

And.  
There it was. Again.

It was the same dome-like room with windows where Wraith received her drills at. The chair, the cart of tools, the room where doctors examined her and took notes, writing in their clipboard as they turned the knob linked to the electrical chair for more voltage power. The glass window that seperated Wraith and the control room with the scribbling doctors was still scattered with blood. Who's blood is a question Wraith can never answer, but it wasn't hers, so the blood didn't matter. This time was different, there was no IMC soldiers swarming either side of the hallway outside of the only exit she had, and this time, the door was actually unlocked. Wraith walked around the empty dark hallways, the flashing of some of the lights gave a creepy feeling. Wraith wasn't sure if she was looking for something specifically, but she wanted to see her cell above all else. Even after years of escaping, never having to walk these walls for so long, Wraith still remembered everything about it. The Facility was a maze you could easily get lost in, but she knew the exact way to her cell. Wraith was making her way through the other inmates cells, some walls and floors here and there having holes from the leakage, this is what caused an outbreak, when everyone got out and went on a rampage for freedom. And then she found her own cell, the door still wide open all those years ago. The showers was in the distance, the memories of violation coming back to her, the zero privacy she got, the humiliation.

She walked around the Facility, slowly, all the memories coming back to her. Her head throbbed, it was heating up. She wanted to cry, feeling depressed and useless at the way she was treated. Wraith could practically feel all the penetration again from all the needles that entered her arm in the year she spent in the Facility. Everything was coming back to her at once, the pain, the suffering, the _assaults_. Her stomach suddenly had this pressure, like if it was holding something that weighed five pounds. It didn't hurt her, but the pressure slowly grew, it bothered her the more seconds passed. Eventually Wraith was breathing through her mouth, she didn't know why but it felt like she wasn't getting enough oxygen. Her headache grew worse, and she was gradually getting weaker. Her legs were the first to go numb, her entire body felt like it weight a ton. She had to leave, she had to. Wraith dragged her legs for the exit, but the exit was a little too far, at this rate, Wraith was sure she wouldn't make it out on time for fresh air. She lost all feeling in her body, it was a miracle she was still able to stand, let alone walk. The edges of her vision was dark, and she couldn't hear anything anymore. Sounds were slightly muffled like if her head was underwater, she couldn't even feel her own face. The pressure in her stomach was the only thing she could feel now, it made her sick, she felt like throwing up. The hallways began to spin around and her eyes were fluttering. Wraith tripped on her own footing and immediately lost consciousness when she hit the ground.

A silent faulty feeling impaled her stomach, tearing through her flesh and organs. A silent fault, unknown, out of nowhere, full of regret and woe.

A sigh and a fall to the ceiling, reaching out, a hand reaching to no one. A sigh and a cry, kneeling down to a faceless ghost. Rain, heavy pulse, bloody head, sweat and tears.

The IMC Detention Facility, an asylum for the mentally ill. Ran out of all the meaning, breathless, exhausted, she ran out of. It was hard to fall, to believe. Hard to fall believing but there she was.

A silent fault, all hers. Wraith didn't know who, she couldn't tell, but the person was there, clinging to her. Faceless, bloody. Wraith wouldn't know what would happen, what will happen, but she found.

She lost her own completeness. The darkness and the weakness. The light, the fight, the quietness. Silence filling in the void, taking over her fragile mind. Shutting her eyes, she wasn't there, even though she still was. There was a mistake, there has to be.

Turn to dust, as they forget, as they moved on. Still, the faceless ghost-- Wraith refused. It slipped away, floating away from her, towards the endless void of darkness. Wraith refused to let it slip away. But she ran through it, and it was gone. The silent fault coming back again, more painful this time.

The floor had a paint of red, just a drop. Feeling something warm on her shoulder, Wraith turned to look and saw a bullet hole on her left shoulder. Groaning, crying, feeling lost. Clenching, holding, resisting; Wraith broke through. The endless darkness shattering like glass.

She woke up sprawling on the couch, panicking, Wraith promptly rose up and fell out of the couch. She held onto her left shoulder, patting around for anything, but there was nothing. Wraith looked around her, she was in her dorm, the TV was playing a horror movie in the background. She sighed and stood up, giving her heart some time to calm down. Her forehead and neck was sweating, some strands of her bangs were plastered onto her sweaty skin. Wraith pushed her bangs back and went in her bathroom, washig her face with cold water to fully wake herself up. Her hands rested on each corner of the sink, she stared back into her soulless eyes. A dream within a dream, or maybe it was all in one dream, it didn't matter, something about the IMC gave a bad omen. She couldn't get the message, it was either a warning or fate that's bound to happen later. The feeling in her stomach she had in the dream, it definitely belonged to her, perhaps another Wraith sometime in the future? Wraith had no clues to help herself out, she decided to leave it for now, she couldn't stress herself when she doesn't know anything. Leaving the bathroom, she went back to the kitchen to make herself another cup of coffee. She was dehydrated, and she could use some energy to not fall asleep again.

Wraith tapped her foot as she dumped the coffee and made a fresh new pot, waiting around until the machine beeped. She looked around the kitchen, then back at her bedside table to look at the time.

11:58am.

And Natalie hasn't come by yet, she definitely would've by now if she was late in the morning. Unless she was taking a break? Wraith would at least like to be notified beforehand, the skirmisher is okay with Natalie taking a break from cooking for a day. Her stomach hurt from hunger but it wasn't something serious. If Natalie is nowhere to be seen for lunch then Wraith will head down and pick something out for herself. She really needed something to eat, her hands and feet were ice cold and shaky. She leaned on the counter as the coffee poured onto the kettle, the voices being scattered with different worries. Some spoke of Natalie, most were asking questions about the dream. It felt real, all of it, when she stood in the IMC Facility and walked around the place she called hell. Every detail was there, nothing was amiss, her cell, the drugs, the notes, all the rooms, the incident. How real that dream was sent a chill down her spine, the only new thing she doesn't remember at all is the blood and the bullet in the bulletproof window. The punishable feeling of pain and sorrow in her stomach, her legs were weak when Wraith took a glimpse of the ghost's face. A faceless void, a bullet hole on the forehead. It didn't speak, but it spoke volumes to her, something about its presence heavily affected her body.

The coffee machine beeped and Wraith poured herself a cup, taking the milk out and putting a bit of milk and sugar into the bitter, black coffee. As she mixed, she continued to think, the fascination of dreams, so real, yet none of it is true. She's always had problems with sleeping, either it's a mental disability, a false projection of illusions created by the brain based off of her fears, or, perhaps stress or caffeine has a play in the role of affecting her dreams. Wraith heard about it from Ajay, saying that caffeine and stress, along with other things, can affect your sleep. Though Wraith was certain that wasn't the case for the dreams she had, they were all different. Dreams affected her heart, before she would fully fall asleep, during her sleep, and the millisecond she woke up. And if dreams didn't affect her heart, then she'd get wildly realistic dreams that told a story. Maybe she's linked to the other Wraiths in alternate dimensions. Maybe the things she witnessed and felt was something another Wraith has already gone through... There is no right answer, with multiple different of what _could_ be an answer, it's hard to truly choose. Even if there was, Ajay has said before that even after all these years, the human brain hasn't been fully captured yet.

The speakers crackled a bit before the usual message came up.

" **Attention all legends, attention all legends. The cafeteria is now open, you may now enter and choose your selections.** "

Wraith stayed leaning on her counter as she sipped her coffee, listening to the voices, giving herself at least eight more minutes before she goes down to the cafeteria herself to go eat. If there's one thing she's dreading is bumping into Octavio, she also doesn't want to deal with Elliott or Anita very much. Anita would want another round on arm wrestling and Elliott... he'll definitely tease her about Natalie. With his big loud mouth, Wraith is surprised he hasn't told the others yet. Maybe he's concerned about the consequences of Legends dating Legends, in that case, that just further proves why Wraith finds him to be a good friend. Before everything between her and Natalie, Wraith has always thought about talking to Makoa about the confusing feelings she was feeling for the younger woman. Makoa was the only person she knew who likes and is dating someone of the same gender. The giant was also incredibly kind and understanding, so he would've definitely helped Wraith out... but she wasn't very confident.

Wraith gulped the last few drops of coffee and put the cup down in the sink, looking over at her clock. She waited enough, Wraith began to make her way down to the lobby and into the cafeteria. Of course, Pathfinder is the first to spot her. He happily waved at her with hearteyes showing on his screen, Wraith smiled at him and waved back, patiently waiting at the end of the line to pick up her food. Blothhundr was up in front looking at the menu with their arms crossed, Artur perched onto their shoulder. They pointed at one of the three display of dishes the staff presented for afternoon lunch. Wraith looked at the menu for today since she didn't know what they were serving today. She looked under on Thursday of the fifteenth: pan-roasted salmon with black-bean garlic sauce, tomato salad with grilled halloumi and herbs, and rotisserie chicken ramen. Wraith was feeling for the ramen today, salad isn't very great and fish wasn't her favorites. The line moved slowly with other staff members standing before her picking their food out as well. By the time she finally made it to the front line, the cafeteria staff told her to wait a second as they went to the back to restock. Wraith took the small time to look around in case Natalie came in, and she still wasn't, which was concerning.

"Sorry, what would you like to have?"

"The ramen, please," Wraith politely asks, the lady giving her a nod and bending down to put the soup and chicken in the bowl. She added the remaining ingredients, such as eggs, seaweed, vegetables, and extras. The lady places the bowl on the counter which Wraith took. She wanted to take the bowl back to her dorm but everyone was already looking at her. Wraith silently groans as she sat down between Path and Ajay.

"Good afternoon big sister, I see that you have yet to find your scarf. Would you like me to sound the emergency alarms?"

"That," Wraith breathed. "Won't be necessary, Path."

"Uhhh, what's the matter with you?" Elliott asks, leaning closer at Wraith who sat across from him.

Wraith was confused, she watched him stare at her face. "What?"

He shrugs and pulls away, still staring, though weirdly. "I don't know, your eyes are weird. Weirder than usual, you look tired, but also not, if that makes sense."

"Tired and alert, what's the matter?" Makoa places his fork and knife down and leaves his hands neatly stacked onto each other on the table as he gave Wraith his attention.

Wraith just waved a hand at the two and spun her fork in the noodles to roll it up. "Nothing, I'm fine, just had a bad dream." Wraith blew on the steamy noodles caught in the fork and slurped it up with a bit of egg and chicken pieces.

Ajay stabs her fork on multiple pieces of lettuce with ranch dressing and held the fork in the air to speak before eating. "Wasn't Natalie suppose to take you food?"

"Haven't seen her today, I thought maybe you guys did?" Wraith looks around the table, earning nothing but confused looks.

"The girl is probably working in her room and forgot about everything around her," Ajay twists the cap off of her water bottle to take a sip.

Wraith was about to say that she's already checked up on Natalie's room but thought that the others might've found it peculiar. To go check up on someone for not bringing you food out of kindness is strange. Especially since it was Wraith, why would Wraith care to check up on someone in the first place? She's definitely capable of being worried and is able to check up on someone, but she's never done it before, and the Legends has never seen her be worried about someone else, so they would definitely get some ideas. And if any of them knows about her relationship with Natalie, not only will it spread like wildfire, but the two of them will be disqualified, and Wraith _needs_ to stay in the Games to stick close to the Facility. Even though, as of now, she's far from it.

"Well, it's nice to see you again, eating with us, I mean. I know there was last time but you weren't- you didn't- I mean you did, but you weren't...," Elliott stopped. "You know what, it's just nice seeing you down here again."

"From what I've seen, you're less distant now. What's with that?" Makoa opens up a pudding he brought for himself from his own room.

"Um," Wraith thought it over. She really wasn't trying to ignore and stay away from all the other Legends, she just never had a reason to be close to them. And there was also the drowsiness she gets from staying in her own dorm. Her room had always made her feel tired and giving her no urge to do anything. Her two losses had nothing to do with why she was distant, it was just other things. "Just got over a few things in the past. I also have nothing better to do than just wait for the next Games." And that was the truth, unless she had plans with Natalie, then she would have something to do.

"You can hang out with us, brotha. We do some fun activities sometimes."

Ajay hummed and swallowed before she spoke. "We go out in town or at the city to have a drink and play some games, if you're interested."

"Yeah, you're more than welcome to have a drink on me at my bar, looks like you need it, too," Elliott gives her a wink. "Or, you know, maybe not a drink but some talk?"

Wraith couldn't help but smile at the friendly invitations. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."

Hearing that made the group happy, with Makoa further explaining the things they do and Ajay bringing up funny stories when they all went out. Elliott chiming in with his own stories and making everyone laugh. Wraith wasn't laughing out loud, but she did laughed to herself in silence, enjoying the company. Alexander came into view a few minutes later, he was in his clean labcoat, which was a shock to everyone. Of course he came into the cafeteria to heat up a corndog, it was all he ever ate. Anita came from the hallway as Alexander existed out, the soldier waved at all of them as she waited in line for her food. Wraith stopped eating halfway, she hasn't eaten at all today except for now, but she wasn't that hungry. Her stomach wasn't feeling the best at the moment, the dream she had this morning still played out in her thoughts. Wraith didn't want to pry too much into it when she doesn't know what the dream is trying to tell her, but all Wraith knows is that it's bad if it's making her stomach upset. She decided to excuse herself from the table to get some room to breathe, Elliott asked once more if everything was alright.

"Yeah, I'm good. Not really hungry."

She could see his face, he didn't buy it, but Elliott knows his boundaries. He never further ask Wraith to come out and say things because he knows there's just some details people prefer not to talk about.

There was nothing interesting to do or anywhere to go to. It was sad to realize during Season one, Wraith did the exact same thing as she's doing now. Practicing at firing range, honing her kunai skills, or sleeping the day away. Sometimes she'd get stuck thinking about the past, and that's never changed. Before Natalie's appearance, Wraith did hung around the others a lot, but she wasn't there to talk, merely listen. Leaning on the wall with her arms crossed, listening to every sound and laughter as she waited for the next Games' to roll by. One game every week was too long for her to handle, and it would always last for fifteen minutes. And then the cycle continues, waiting for the Games by practicing or sleeping. And she still hasn't changed, in fact Wraith has made her week even more dull and slow by keeping away from the others. She never joined in on the conversations, but hearing the other Legends talk did make the day go by quicker.

Even though Wraith has never attempted to be friendly to the other Legends, they never gave up on her. They don't dislike her, they don't ignore her, they've always liked her, in fact. She never gave them a smile, she's hardly ever spoken to them, and Wraith mostly declined their invites to hang out. All that, and they still love her. Going far as to count her as _family_. It always struck her odd that none of the other Legends found themselves in an awkward atmosphere whenever they're stuck with her. Wraith can speak, but it was either a 'yes' or 'no'. Makoa and Ajay would always talk to Wraith about something she could easily answer, so having a conversation with them was never tiring. Elliott would try his best to have a conversation with Wraith, but he gets carried away and talks to himself mid-way. Anita would boast her skills as well as her squadmates, talking about her awesome moments from last match. And then there was Pathfinder. He was the only Legend that Wraith talked to, but neither of them had much to say to one-another. She still very much loves the robot for taking a liking to her.

When she really gives it a thought, they were somehow like family. Wraith doesn't know what having a family is like. With no memory of her past, who her parents are, if she had any siblings... what's it like to feel? The feel of knowing you have a family. Is it something people think about often? Does it feel like love? Thinking about it, if Ajay, say, was her younger sister, Wraith guesses she'd be a bit happy? But not too much. She'd find it a little cool knowing she has a sister, but having Ajay as her sister is something she doesn't feel happy for. She'd be happy, but she wouldn't feel it in her body, she wouldn't smile either. It's just something that she knows, that was that. The same thing could be said to Pathfinder, or Caustic, as the grumpy old dad. To put it simply... she'd find it... nice. But is that how she's suppose to feel and think if she had a family?

She was back in her room, cold, messy, dark, gloomy. Clothes all scattered about from the floor, to the couch, to her bed. Piles of cups all stacked on top of each other filling up her sink. Quiet, gray, and lonely, not a single streak of light shone through. Her body has already changed weight the second her foot stepped inside. Wraith could feel the weight of her ribs, her shoulders ached as it felt like it was carrying something heavy. Feeling drowsy and exhausted for no reason, she had no energy left in her body to do anything. Any motivation to do a task, gone. She dropped down on the couch and laid there, waiting and wondering about Natalie's whereabouts. Was Wraith always this weak to be tired and sad like this? The other hers were right, she was pathetic. A sad and pathetic display, weak and cracked. She counted herself lucky to have Natalie exist, without her, Wraith wouldn't know what colors are, how good the sun is for you. How it feels to be happy and love, to have someone she could trust, to have someone there for her, always. Natalie was definitely an angel, the sight of beauty, the voice of peace, the touch of sadness. A beautiful and kind woman, hiding her scars and still being upset about the loss of her father. With those things behind her, it was absolutely inspiring to see Natalie be so kind and joyful.

Unlike Wraith, who's miserable, she didn't care much for anything or others. She never let go of the tragedy she's gone through, and she still keeps thinking back on it, even if Wraith never wanted to think back, the memories always made its way back. She let the memories rule out her emotions, she could never control them. Crying and vomiting, always rolled up at the floor of her bathroom. Wraith was always perceived to be scary and strong, but she was puny and dejected. Her thoughts were everywhere, and they were always changing. So were the voices, each of them having their own say towards her. They were both different, Wraith and Natalie, but one thing was certain: they both went through a harsh time. Wraith was at the worse end, of course she's the one having trouble moving on and being a normal person. But it was still amazing to see Natalie be the person that she is now, to stay happy, smiling, laughing, still working hard as ever. Unless, that's what Natalie was trying to show to everyone, but in reality, she could've been crying to herself in her own dorm. Wraith wouldn't know, much like Natalie wouldn't know about her on what she feels or does when Wraith is in her own dorm. Oh, how fascinating humans are with different brains and emotions.

The voices hushed now, drowning out much like the world around her. Going dark and quiet, Wraith let herself sleep. She hated herself for being frail like this, to have her room make her feel this way. Exhausted for no reason, heavy, depressed, spiteful.

. . .

"Good work today Paquette, I must thank you for doing this grand favor for us. I know you are very busy, so sorry for troubling you with such an easy task."

"No worries, I know this is quite difficult to do. If there's anything else, let me know before I'm on my way," Natalie wiped the sweat off her forehead with her forearm.

The scientist holds up a finger as he fishes for a letter from a nearby desk, extending his arm out for Natalie to take. "We'd like to invite you on this new project we're working on. Please have a look at it in your private quarters and give us a call if you're interested."

"Oh? Thank you. If there's nothing else, I'll be going now."

The scientist bowed and returned to his seat, taking a stack of papers to straighten them as he set them back down and began to write. Natalie made her way outside the Headquarters with the ring under her arm, the letter on her other hand. She looked at the front before turning to look at the back, which had nothing. The front of the envelope only had "PROJECT CIRE" written in black ink. She wished she looked at the clock before she left the building, sighing, Natalie just picked up her pace towards the dropship. The rear end was still open, the pilot patiently sat the entire time she was stuck on work, reading a magazine. He looked back at her and pressed a button to close the ramp, switching everything on as the engine began to rev up. Natalie held onto her seat as the ship tremor a bit as it lifted off, she could never get used to it. But once that was over, it was smooth flying for several minutes.

Her stomach was throbbing, she kept blushing back at work whenever her stomach grumbled. The room was especially quiet and Natalie could've sworn the other engineers heard her, there was no way they didn't, her stomach was _loud_. She didn't have time to make and bring breakfast for herself for the trip, and she didn't think she'd be staying longer than she thought. All Natalie could think about is her _chérie,_ she feels bad for leaving the woman without telling her she'd be gone for an hour. It wasn't even an hour as Natalie planned, she was in there for far longer than that, Natalie doesn't even know what time it is anymore. Her fingers were sore, stretching and cracking her knuckles weren't helping. Hopefully she's able to have a nice long warm bath when she gets back, unless Wraith never had something to eat. Natalie hopes that she did, she hardly got any sleep last night as she was working on a special little project. Her shoulders could also use a massage, they were stiff from all the time Natalie was scrunched over.

Everytime Natalie looked out the window when she's high in the air reminded her of the past when she was a little girl. She moved around a lot when she was a kid, papa earned a lot of jobs from different apartments who needed his genius. When they were on the ship, he would work tirelessly in the night. Natalie remembers staying up, playing with the foot of her Nessie plush, wondering when her papa would join her in bed. She wasn't a fan of the dark, and it didn't help that she was in a place she didn't know. Her papa made her feel safe, and she couldn't go to sleep unless he told her a story. She'd get up to check up on him, asking him when he was going to bed. Luc would turn his head to look at her, his glasses glistening from the lamp.

"Soon, _mon ange_ ," he'd say.

But soon was a lie, he never came to bed, so Natalie worried about his health. He worked all morning, and he had to drive to work again in the afternoon. He never gave himself some rest, Luc was always about not having enough money for the both of them. He was always fine financially, but he was paranoid of going poor. Poor to feed Natalie, to take care of her, to give her a home, to pay for her college tuition. She never gave up on checking up on him, she fought out the sleep in her eyes until her papa came to bed. Natalie remembers him sighing in frustration that his daughter refused to sleep until he did. He'd set his pen down and shoves the stack of papers in his folder, pushing the chair out as he took his glasses out and folded them on the table. Natalie smiled and hugged her Nessie closely as Luc laid next to her, his left arm wrapped around her as he pulled her close. With his right hand, he pointed out the window at the night sky.

"Look out there," he said. "Do you want to know why we will never run out of stars?"

Natalie nodded.

"It's a sad tale. When you leave this world, you become a star, forever imprinted in the sky for everyone to remember you by."

"But that's amazing! It's almost like if you never lost anyone at all! They're always up in the sky for as long as you live, and once you're gone, you'll become a star with everyone you've lost. So no one's truly gone."

Luc stroked his beard. "Hm, never thought of it that way."

Natalie always treasured her memories with her papa. She misses him dearly, often opening up the crumpy old letter he wrote in case of his sudden death. It always helped her whenever she was frustrated and upset.

_"My daughter can, and will, do anything she wants in this life."_

"Oh papa...," she muttered under her breath.

"We're landing." The pilot speaks through the speakers.

Natalie held onto her seat as the ship shook a bit. She waited for the pilot to open up the back so she can go to her dorm and destroy the last ring. She was excited to finally move on to the next course of action, to finally know some details about her beloved _chérie_. What struck her heart the most was what could be Wraith's full name, Natalie bet it was beautiful. Standing up as the ramp extended outward for her to exit out of ship, Natalie signed herself in and scanned her ID. The metal doors opened up as a green light lit up, allowing her access to walk into the lobby. She went up the stairs to her room and set aside the ring on the floor as she put her PIN in. Sliding the door open, Natalie picked the ring back up and placed it down on her table, going back to lock the door and pick up her hammer in her tool kit. She picked her biggest hammer and went up to the ring on her table, holding the hammer up behind her and bringing it down with enough force to make a dent. The projection of the map fazed out as some nuts and bolts flew out. With a few more swings until the machine looked unidentifiable, Natalie drops the hammer and sits on her bed to take a look at the invitation letter she received.

_The knowledgeable genius Natalie Paquette._   
_Daughter of the Games’ lead electrical engineer, the legendary Luc Paquette._   
_Talos, World's Edge, Syndicate HQ._

_We, the scientists, has gathered together as one to inform you of our newest project we wish to work on. We chose you to make our project a success with your unmatched skills of quantum mechanics. We have come across a solution we have yet to solve as the true answer for such a problem is quite the difficult task for us to answer. We have gone through many trials and errors and have yet to come up with the ideas to complete the project. Here, you will find the details of our project below:_

Natalie carefully read through and re-read the purpose of the project the Syndicate was working on, and she could see why they request her assistance. The equation they are currently stuck on is difficult to handle, but it was nothing for Natalie. Still, this was just the mathematical phase to run the machine, there was still drawing the blueprint and modeling the creation itself, which would take many months. Natalie would be working tirelessly day and night on this project, and she didn't have time for that. Not now, anyways. She has something more important to do than busy herself with work, and that was helping Wraith. The end of the letter let's her know that she has the option to decline if she wants to, and Natalie was thankful for that. Sometimes she's pulled in to work whether she wants to or not.

Natalie neatly folds the letter back into the envelope and re-seals it, placing it down on her bedside table as she slips under her covers and finds a comfortable position. She glances at her clock and finds the time at three in the afternoon, almost four. Natalie hopes to sleep for about two hours before she goes to check up on Wraith for an update about the final ring. When she shut her eyes, two knocks on the door interrupted her attempt to sleep. Natalie whined and promptly got up, she slid the door open to find Crypto smiling at her.

" _여보세요_ , I saw you come in, I knew you went out to destroy the final ring."

"How did you-"

Crypto put a hand up to stop Natalie. "I want to quickly move onto the next phase. Come with me."

Natalie locked the door under her PIN behind her and followed him, rubbing her heavy eyelids trying to keep awake. They only went down one floor and stood in front of Wraith's room. Crypto slides a white device into the small lock on the knob and bursts the door open. Natalie stood out as she was trying to think what Crypto had in his hands to open someone's else's door that he didn't have the key to.

"What the fuck."

Wraith was laying on her bed when she stood up in front of Crypto with her arms extending out.

"How did you open my door?"

Crypto turns his head to Natalie's direction and motions his hand for her to come inside. Wraith just noticed her, her expression changing to a calmer demeanor. Natalie steps inside and shuts the door, standing next to Crypto with her hands cupped together.

"I have my ways. Let's move on, shall we? Come, let us sit, I would like to hear your ideas on my careful planning." Crypto pulls a piece of folded paper out of his coat and starts unfolding it, laying it flat on the table and taking a seat in the middle of the couch. Wraith sighs and joins him, Natalie following behind and sitting down on the right seat.

Crypto points down at Entrance C, it had a blue line going from the entrance to a room with a singular cell on it. Based on Wraith's story, Natalie would have to guess that it's her cell and not another inmate.

"See this blue line? I believe this route is the best way to move in and out of the Facility with ease. It's unpredictable, and I've looked into the hallways, there are many objects we could hide behind in case soldiers are stationed around the area. Just next to Wraith's singular cell is a room that kept all of her data, I believe. And if not that, then maybe the testing room where Wraith had her drills."

Wraith shook her head and pointed her finger on her cell, moving it downward to the testing room. "It's only obvious that my records are in the testing room, the route you chose is longer, and we'd have to walk to an unplanned road in order to go to the testing room. We should use Entrance G, it leads straight to the testing room _first_."

"I can see where you're coming from, but I wouldn't understand why scientists and doctors would keep your records if all they have in there is your progress of your powers."

Wraith crossed her arms, biting down her bottom lip as she looked around the map of the facility. "That may sound true, but why collect data of a test subject without knowing their records first? Everyone needs something to work with before they even begin, do they not?"

"Which could've been moved to the room next to your cell, since it _is_ the testing room, once they know your details then they wouldn't need to hang onto it anymore."

"It could be moved somewhere else once it becomes useless, but I'm sure they have it saved for future reference purposes somewhere in the folder. Trust me, we want to use Entrance G," Wraith looked at Crypto, who smirked back at her.

"Exactly, future references. That's why I suggest we use Entrance C, the room that's next to your cell is what I believe to be one of the three lead scientists in the facility."

Wraith sat back and nodded slowly. "I never did know what that room was, but I highly doubt a lead scientist would stay next to my cell and never meet me in person."

"You didn't see them in person?" Natalie questions.

Wraith shook her head. "Not that one, I've only seen one of them in person, and his office is on the other side."

"So we can all agree that we'll be using Entrance C?" Crypto looks at the two of them for an answer.

"Any alternative routes in case C is a bust? Both entrance and escape," Natalie asks him.

Crypto takes out a purple pen from his coat and circles Entrance A and H and writes "entrance" above them. Then he takes out a green pen and circles B and C, writing "escape" above them. "B and C have a lot of room and objects we can zig zag and hide from. A and H are alternative entrances, they're not the best, but they're better than the others."

"Yes... I can see it," Wraith ponders.

"Well then," Crypto says, standing up from the couch with his hands in his pockets. "When do we start? I would like to go as soon as possible, preferably tomorrow, if possible?"

Wraith too wanted to go asap, she's been wanting this her whole life. But she also wanted to make up time for Natalie... she could always make it up after they're done getting the info Wraith seeks.

"I wouldn't mind the date, just as long as it isn't today," Natalie yawns, a single tear formed at the corner of her eye, but it didn't roll down her cheek. She wiped it away and blinks a few times to keep herself awake, feeling exhausted.

With the knowledge of Natalie not minding the date, Wraith picked tomorrow to be the day where they can finally hack into the Facility and help Wraith collect her past.

"Wonderful, I'll start preparing for tomorrow. I'll see you two then, _좋은 오후 보내_."

When Crypto left the room, Natalie immediately changed seats and sat close to Wraith, resting her head on the older woman's shoulder. " _Je tu ai manqué_ ," Natalie mumbles.

"I- I can't understand you, you know," Wraith chuckles.

"So tired... I'm sorry I was gone for so long."

Wraith hugged Natalie even closer. "Where were you anyway?"

Natalie moved her hands over Wraith's gentle hold, feeling safe and comfort. "I was only suppose to be gone for an hour to take the last ring and destroy it back in my dorm but...," Natalie sighs. "I got caught up in work. The engineers over at Syndicate needed my help and I couldn't refuse."

"Are you falling asleep on me?"

Natalie only mumbled back, her head stooped lower. Wraith slowly laid back on the couch and carefully moved Natalie's head on her chest.

"Ah," Natalie snapped back into reality, trying her best to keep awake but her eyes kept failing her.

"Nat, it's alright, you can sleep."

Natalie takes a deep breath and pecks Wraith on her bruised cheek, nuzzling down at the crook of Wraith's neck. Her hot breath sent chills down Wraith's back, but she quickly got used to it. Hugging Nat closer for warmth, Wraith kissed Natalie's head and buried her face into the defender's short puffy hair.

Wraith smiles to herself at how she got so lucky to deserve Natalie. "I love you," she whispers, hearing a soft hum from Natalie before the girl drifted off to sleep. Wraith has gotten enough sleep for the day, so she laid there, with the other woman on top of her, in her arms. Wraith stroked Natalie's hair as she listened to the blonde's slow, soft breathing. Smiling again, Wraith couldn't help but gently press a kiss on Natalie's head once again. Today, only for a moment, they were both together in a comfortable silence like Wraith wanted. The feeling of safety, in each other's hold.


	10. Your fault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not sorry for ghosting this story, I actually meant to leave it cuz I had a huge writers block, like I actually made THREE chapter 10s and hated them. People are still reading this and the last three comments gave me the motivation to not leave it behind, so uh, thanks. I haven't read any DS fic since like February, so I really hope my fic isn't copying anyone. I had this idea almost a year ago, I was just too lazy to write anymore 😭 If you're wondering why Wraith is sorta out of character, and you haven't figured out why, I hope this chapter cures your blindness. ☡ This chapter has some trigger warnings, idk what to call them tho.
> 
> Trigger warnings includes: MEN 😷, mentions of sexual assault, some other stuff I'm probably missing cuz my memory is shart.
> 
> There's some things I gotta go back and fix in this chapter but I'm sure none of y'all will notice. 1) I honestly forgot what I wrote so if things don't make sense then there's why. 2) There's a segment in this chapter that's sudden and just out of nowhere, if I find it silly to read, I will scrap it out and re-write the segment to make the chapter make more sense (you'll know the segment because it is rushed). 3) I haven't written shat in so long that you'll notice the story sounds a little ass with repeated words, I'm sorry.
> 
> As of the [Sep 22nd, 2020] update, ALL chapters are revised + notes.
> 
> (Side note: You are NOT suppose to see the asterisks "*", but because this fic is so long, it's actually too laggy for me to edit. Took me 4 minutes just to change a word to look slanted, please help me. One "*" each side are suppose to be slanted, two are bold, three is both just btw.)
> 
> Estimated reading time:
> 
> 1:10:00

It has been a long time since she's stepped inside her home. The home where her papa finally settled down in to work with the Syndicate. They lived there for about fourteen years, whilst the homes before only lasted about seven months due to Luc being busy; receiving calls from multiple different organizations and departments requesting a glimpse of his genius work. Natalie stood in the kitchen, she walked around the table as her fingers traced the edges. She stopped behind the chair her papa always sat on. She placed her hand on the top rail and, just for a split second, felt like he was sitting there. She could see the stacks of papers, she could see the plate of food just nearby as he read on in silence. For a second, Natalie thought she heard him speak, but she knew she was imagining it. Looking around the kitchen, it was empty, dark and silent. There was a small urge to cry, but it was not to cry at the loss of her papa, but because she was alone and scared. Natalie crawled under the table and curled up into a ball, her hands covered her ears to block off the subtle noise around her. It was silly, and she knew that, but nobody would understand. They never did, throughout her years, whenever she tried to explain to someone, they couldn't understand her. They've told her that she was being oversensitive, over-exaggerated, that she was being dumb. Natalie was always deemed eccentric by others, she had a hard time clicking with people, and just when she thought she was doing well, she kills the conversation with her awkward nature.

If they'd see her now, her peers, they would surely laugh. They always had whenever they spot her doing something foolish. One time she blocked her ears with her fingers because the class was too loud. The boy next to her suddenly grabbed her wrist and yanked it away just to yell in her ear, laughing maniatically. She'd cry afterwards, in which the other students reacted with laughter, calling her a "wimpy baby". Even if some peers were nice enough to give her a chance, they would soon turn around and forget about her completely. Once, a new transfer student was curious about her and felt pity that Natalie was being picked on. When it was recess time, the new girl asked Natalie what was wrong when she found Natalie curled up behind a tree away from the kids who were playing basketball. At the time, Natalie didn't know better, she really believed that the new girl cared about her. But she was an idiot, by the time Natalie opened her mouth, the new girl backed away and never spoke to her again.

Natalie is a grown up now, and yet, despite all the time she's had to change, she hasn't changed her ways. For the longest time, Natalie always asks herself...

"What's wrong with me?"

To be scared of the world because she was alone? Hiding under the table, curled up, and wanting to cry. A pathetic display she is right now. But nobody would understand, as much as she could explain as best she could, people wouldn't get it. She was alone, but it's different. Natalie never had a friend, so to lose her beloved papa... the only person who she trusted and loved her entire life... it was scary to be alone in this grand universe. Her papa would hate to see her this way, sad and lonely, on the floor, still finding the world around her terrifying. He left her a letter for a reason, a reason to get up and get out there. But Natalie has read that letter one too many times. It still does its job well, helping her pull herself together. But she uses it guitily, instead of reading the letter how her papa intends, sometimes she uses it to mourn for him. Natalie would imagine Luc's strokes, the way he glided his hand over the paper with a pen in his hand from all the years she's watched him work. Just to imagine him turn around and smile at her, once again, telling Natalie for the one-hundredth time that day, that he loves her.

He's gone. He's * _been_ * gone. It's time to move on, and she knows that, but it's difficult to move on. At this point, Natalie believed she'll never be able to move forward. The world was too big for her, and Luc Paquette was the center of the orbit. Without him, Natalie doubts she'll find true peace. Even if her ears are muffled with her cap, despite her not being around anything or anyone noisy, she could still hear loud buzzing. It was stuck in her head, constantly looping, it drove her insane. Natalie stayed crouched under the table, lowering her head to her knees to cover herself more, but she still heard the loud buzzing. It grew immensely louder, until a hand was placed on her left shoulder, and it stopped. Natalie looked behind her to spot Wraith, bent down, smiling down at her. Natalie was no longer underneath the table, the scenery around her changed to nothing but white. More hands were placed all around her back, and she saw the others. Her new family. The Legends of the Apex Games, Ajay, Makoa, Anita, Dr. Nox. They were all there for her, she wasn't alone in the grand galaxy. They helped her block off the sounds, they helped her forget her peers, they let her know what a friend is. But Wraith... her beloved * _chérie_ *... shown her something different entirely. Despite the skirmisher being a distant crush Natalie thought she'll never have, despite her joining the Games and feeling she had no chance with the older brunette, Wraith changed all of that by choosing * _her_ *, out of everyone.

Did Wraith not find her weird? Is Wraith feeling alright? Everyone who spoke to Natalie left her in a minute, never again did they speak to her. But the Legends... completely adore her. The Legends love Natalie for who she is, they loved everything about her. And Wraith, who doesn't speak to the others very much, who kept her distance, the Legend who was too busy and uninterested to people, * _fell_ * in love with her.

Somehow, the world was alright. It wasn't too big for Natalie, it was just the perfect size. It's great, even, her life has been amazing, and it's all thanks to her new family. It's all thanks to her papa, and to Wraith. Without them, Natalie wouldn't know what she'd do, or where she'd be. If the Legends didn't invite her to join the arena, she'd be at home, by herself, staring at her papa's work desk. His feather quill neatly set on top of a dirty napkin, next to a stack of letters, all unfinished. She would pull out the photo album tucked between his stack of books on the shelf for nostalgia when she looks at an old photograph of them taken fifteen years prior. That's what she'd do with her life if the Legends didn't invite her to compete in the arena, Natalie wouldn't be able to leave her home. Anything that her papa has touched is sacred to her, gives her nothing other than make her think of the past, reliving the memories she's had of Luc. And even if Natalie manages to move on without the Legends ever inviting her, she wouldn't be happy. With no friends and no lover, she would be nothing but a feckless operative, working her entire life in silence as her ears rang and her mind buzzed. But that's not what happened, it's never going to, all her friends were here. In the endless light stood Ajay, Anita, Dr. Caustic, Makoa... they were all smiling at her. Natalie shed a tear and immediately wiped it off, the Legends chuckled and turned away, walking out to the endless emptiness of the unknown. Natalie watched as they all disappeared, everyone except for Wraith who stood next to her.

Natalie attempted to reach out to Wraith but she snapped awake when the alarm went off. She awoke beside her * _chérie_ *, she was wrapped under the skirmisher's arms. It was morning, 7:30am to be precise, and Natalie absolutely forgot that she fell asleep in her beloved's room. She could've sworn she fell asleep on the couch, Natalie guessed that Wraith carried her over to the comfortable bed. Her heart shot up for a second, as she was scared that they might get caught, but a part of her longed for this. Wraith groaned and unplugged the cord behind the bedside table, then the older woman shifted back to Nat and cuddled with the blonde again. Natalie knew that Wraith wasn't fully awake yet, she's seen how Wraith acts in the morning, which is grumpy and foul.

"Good morning * _ma chérie_ *," she didn't know why she felt embarrassed for saying that, but she did. Hiding her smile by burying it in Wraith's chest.

The skirmisher slightly grumbled, exhaling through her nose on Natalie's messy hair. Wraith moved to give Nat's head a quick peck before moving back again, tucking Natalie's head under her chin. "Morning..." Wraith croaked out.

"You really can't function unless you have coffee, huh?"

More indistinguishable mumbles.

A part of Natalie was freaking out about the rules and the many different ways they could get caught for being together. Another part of her wanted to fall back asleep again, enjoying Wraith's warmth and live a little like as if they've been doing this for years. But she was starving, she hasn't eaten anything all day yesterday.

"Wake up," Nat gently pats Wraith's cheek in an attempt to wake the older woman.

More grumbles.

Natalie rolled her eyes and sat up, giving the skirmisher a kiss on the forehead before crawling out at the end of the bed to not disturb her. She noticed that her jacket was hung on a coat hanger beside the door, it was weird not having to wear her jacket, Natalie always felt naked without it, even if she is wearing her usual blue turtleneck.

"I'm starving," Natalie yawns and rubs her eye, moving towards Wraith's fridge. "Let's see what you have in here." Upon opening the fridge, it was basically empty. There was only a gallon of milk and unhealthy treats that can be done in a minute with a toaster. There was absolutely no ingredients to be found other than slices of cheese and sticks of butter.

"Wraith-" Natalie began, waking the skirmisher who wanted to sleep more. Natalie bit her bottom lip as she grabbed the butter and looked at the expiration date. The butter had already expired three months ago, it was horribly rancid. Natalie threw the butter away in the garbage and inspected the rest of the items inside the fridge, fortunately the items still had time to be used.

Wraith didn't have anything to make a grand meal with. There was a bag of bread on the counter, which Natalie headed over to to check on the expiration date, except, she didn't have to, Natalie saw a few moldy bread through the transparent plastic wrap. Throwing it into the garbage, Natalie checked on every snacks Wraith stored into her kitchen. Cookies, crackers, cereal, cup noodles, etc,. They were all thrown out when Nat found them all expired.

"I really hope you haven't eaten any of these recently."

Wraith busied herself by rubbing the sand out of her eyes, "not for a long time. I've only been using the milk for my coffee."

Natalie shook her head. "Well, there's nothing here that I can use," Natalie huffs as she takes her shoes from the doormat.

"Where are you going?" Wraith sat up from the bed now.

"Back to my room,* _allons-y_ *," Natalie slips her feet in her sneakers and grabs her signature orange jacket from the coat hanger. "I told you I was working on a special little project, didn't I?" Natalie winked. "I need plenty of things to cook with than just slices of cheese."

"Hey, I haven't expanded too much with food, I just grab what I can make in a minute." Wraith rolled her eyes, and couldn't resist to smile.

"...so that's why there's two packs of corndogs in the fridge?" Natalie giggled.

"Shut up, give me a few minutes, I'll join you. Let me get ready first," Wraith stretched and yawned, picking up her hair tie on top of her dresser and holding it in place with her mouth. Wraith pinched her hair up behind her and tied it into a knot until she had her usual terribly messy bun.

"My PIN is 8838, did you get that?"

"I got it, don't worry," Wraith says as she makes her way to the bathroom. The skirmisher heard the front door close as she stepped inside the restroom to prepare for the day.

. . .

Once Natalie stepped out into the hallway, she hurriedly ran up the steps with her brain clouded with the look upon Wraith's eyes. She didn't dare point at the color change to the older brunette, fearing that maybe Wraith's eyes will go back to a milky white. Nat has never seen Wraith's eyes look normal, perhaps the reason they were of normal color was because Wraith was at a true state of peace. Wraith's eyes was this calm, charmingly vivid blue color. Is Natalie's existence the work of it? Is Wraith safe and secure when the two are alone together? The many different endless questions made Natalie blush at the fact that her alone has made Wraith so belonging to the world, that she doesn't have to be afraid of being tortured again. It struck her when Wraith, just Wraith, also makes Natalie feel so complete just by doing nothing.

Her thoughts was interrupted when Nox cleared his throat to catch her attention.

"Good morning miss Paquette, you look rather happy," Nox gave her his rare smile, she's the only legend in the arena to ever see Nox smile so genuinely.

"Oh! Dr. Caustic! Good morning! I'm just excited to start my day with all my friends."

Nox chuckled, "ah, I see. Are you heading out early for breakfast?"

Natalie awkwardly stood in front of her door. "Um-...," she thought for a second longer, "well actually, I was heading to go inside. I have a project that is due and I would very much like to get it done before it takes the time of my other activities."

Nox simply nodded respectfully and gave her another smile. "A devoted engineer, I see. I'll be out of your way then, you have a long future ahead of you. Good day, miss Paquette."

"Good day Dr. Caustic," Nat waved, as she entered her PIN and moved inside. Her stomach grumbled as she looked at the contents in her fridge, she was glad her stomach didn't growl as she was talking to Nox. She's already gone through the embarrassment of her co-workers catching an earful of it before. Peering into the freezer, she had some mulard to whip up for two people, which was perfect for dinner, Natalie would be sure to make that later today. She opened up the fridge again and looked at the eggs and ham, which gave her the idea to make * _oeufs cocotte_ * for breakfast. Natalie preheats the oven to 375 degrees F before grabbing the necessary bowls, utensils, and ingredients needed to prepare. She boiled water in a kettle, and went on to grease a small lidded casserole dish with olive oil. Placing a chunk of ham onto the cutting board, Natalie finely chops the ham into diced pieces and sprinkled it onto the bottom of the casserole dish, adding in a tablespoon of cheese. She then poured half a cup of whipping cream and seasoned it with pepper before moving onto cracking eggs. Natalie cracked the two eggs one at a time, making sure the egg yolk remained intact, it is an important step for the yolk to be intact. Once she was done with that, she poured more cheese on top with some fresh chives, and to add the finishing touch, seasoned it with salt and pepper. Natalie covered the casserole dish and placed it unto a roasting pan. She poured in enough boiling water so it reached about halfway up the casserole dish. The dish is to be baked in the preheated oven for nine minutes with the lid on before uncovering and continuing to bake until the egg whites are just set but the yolks are still runny.

The smell that quickly enveloped the kitchen part of her small studio tickled an old memory when she was small, Luc had made * _oeufs cocotte_ *, and the smell traveled all the way upstairs. Natalie remembers running down the steps and greeting her papa as he sets the hot dish down for them on the table.

"Careful, * _mon ange_ *, it's hot. Don't want to burn your tongue now," he said.

Natalie being foolish back then, thought a few simple blows would make it cool very quickly. She perfectly remembers the sting and the burns on her lips and tongue when the eggs touched against them.... And then she cried and complained about the pain...

That memory made her smile at the good old days she misses so much. Even if there wasn't much to do for a kid like her back in the day, Natalie still had a lot of fun playing hide and seek with the Nessies. She's happy to know some of the legends were lucky enough to come across some during looting in the arena back on King's Canyon. So far, Elliott and Ajay found one, the others aren't so lucky, however. Anita claims she's seen one somewhere but has been unsuccessful in locating it, though it's too late for that now.

And even if Dr. Nox is uninterested in such trinkets, he still went out of his busy way to leave the ship and buy a tiny Nessie charm for Natalie, which she struck incredibly odd as it was somewhat out of character of him, but much to the running gag with her and her friends, Natalie assumed he was just being the so-called 'dad'.

The creaks of her door opening ripped Nat's attention as she spotted Wraith slithering her way in before closing the door behind her. Wraith passed through the clutter of papers on the ground and sat at the couch as she turned on the TV and slouched, very typical of her. Nat looked at the timer set by the oven, she had minutes to spare before it was finished, so she crossed her arms as she leaned on the couch to kill some time. Wraith was just speeding by channels until she found one that was interesting to her. Natalie noticed the skirmisher took a second longer to skip forward when a cartoon channel popped up, the thought of Wraith liking kids shows was not only strangely funny, but awfully adorable as well.

"Hey * _chérie_ *."

"Yeah?"

Nat gave herself a second to try not to laugh, or crack a smile. "You know... if you like cartoons, you can go ahead and watch them."

Wraith quickly turned her head at Nat, giving her a stern look. "As if, what made you even think that?"

Natalie just shrugged and grinned at the older women, "there's no age limit to watch cartoons, you know. You shouldn't feel silly or afraid of being caught, I still watch them even to this day."

"...right," Wraith went back to switching channels again.

Nat would have to guess that it would take a little more time for Wraith to be comfortable with the things the skirmisher finds embarrassing. Still, it is rather cute to see this side of Wraith. Maybe with the experiments she's gone through in the IMC, the memory wipe somehow managed to miss Wraith's youth, which remained it to linger when she woke up. Maybe this side of Wraith has always been her before the memory wipe, so when she awoke, a part of her wasn't lost at all. But it could always just be as simple as Wraith liking cartoons just like any other adult in the world, they're just silly and entertaining. Natalie pushed herself off the couch and went back to check on the * _oeufs cocotte_ *, or baked eggs. There was still two minutes left on the timer so Natalie used the remaining time to clean up and set up the table.

As she slowly opened up the oven with care, she put on some oven mitts to take the dish and set it on the table as Nat closed the oven with her shoe. Natalie revealed the contents inside by removing the lid on top so it would cool faster, then she set five more minutes on the clock before digging in.

"Is it done?" Wraith asked from across the room.

Natalie inched closer to join Wraith on the couch to watch the news. "Yes, though it is incredibly hot for now so we'll let it sit for a bit."

"What is it that you're making anyways?"

"It's called * _oeufs cocotte_ *! Or baked eggs. It's popular in my area in Solace, it's quick and easy to make, and best of all, it is very tasty!"

Wraith crossed her arms as she lounged in the couch, "I'll bet, it smelled really good when I walked in here."

"With how long it'll take to cool down, I wouldn't doubt you'll be late for any of your morning schedule... If you were planning on doing some training," Natalie wondered.

Wraith shook her head, "no, I haven't been going to the firing range as much as I used to. Been giving myself a all-day-long break, it's the least I deserve."

"Until I came in," Natalie giggled.

"Spending my break with you is better than me being by myself and sleeping through the day due to boredom. I prefer it this way, I could get used to it," Wraith gave a relaxed sigh.

"I'm happy to hear you say that, I feel the same way. Lately I've been breezing through my work quite swiftly, with my utmost wit and skills as an engineer!"

Wraith chuckled and slowly shook her head, "nerd."

Natalie puffed her cheeks, "if I remember correctly, you've shown interest in science many times before. Wouldn't that make you a nerd as well?"

The older women threw her arms out as a way of expressing 'you got me!'. "Dunno why but I just find the subject interesting. Almost like if I heard it before? If that makes any sense to you."

"Hm...," Natalie thought, bringing a finger up to her chin. "Perhaps you were a scientist before? Science is a impressive subject as it is, anybody would be interested in it, your case is a little different than most though. I've seen you carry books around with you one time during the evening."

"You know about that?!"

Natalie snorted, "I've also seen your notebook from afar. I recognized a graph you drew along with some notes- er, not that I could've read it..."

Wraith sighed. "Oh great, see, this is why I do things alone in my room. I'm surprised you never poked fun at me before."

Natalie simply shook her head, "I could never! You would've killed me if I did, hehe. Back then I thought you were doing it to keep up with me whenever we conversed... when we * _did_ * conversed."

"We hardly spoke at all, yet we had a great deal of respect to one-another."

"Right," Natalie agreed. "It was either that or perhaps my studies has intrigued you to learn about the subject. It was so exciting to me at the time! To inspire somebody to learn about the one thing I'm passionate about!" Natalie squealed. "But... if you're saying that the subject feels like something you've heard before, maybe a small part of your memory really is still lingering. I can't ask you to remember, things you used to know are foggy to you, and yet, you know you've seen them before."

"Some things just came back to me in a sudden wave, like when I held a gun, or when I first used the jumpkit..."

"-a super soldier perhaps?"

Wraith shrugged, "questions about me are endless, we won't know anything until we infiltrate that base and search for my past."

"Ah yes... it's today, isn't it? Hm...," Natalie trailed off in thought.

The blonde was thinking about how she never knew about the Facility deep underground of the games. King's Canyon was once her home, and later on she'd work a bit alongside her papa when he was building the ring. To think that the IMC was hiding another facility to run tests on people... she'd keep thinking, but her thoughts were quickly interrupted when she saw Wraith flinch.

"Wraith? Is everything alright?" She asks.

Wraith places a hand behind her neck and rubs it. "Yeah, goosebumps."

The timer Natalie set up earlier rung and Natalie clasped her hands together. "Now we may eat."

"Finally," Wraith yawned, "I was terribly hungry."

The two women took their seats across from each other and dug into their food. As per usual, Natalie felt whole when Wraith commented on her cooking. The skirmisher didn't have to but it was lovely and appreciated either way. Natalie would love to have this life with Wraith, to have someone to come home to, now that is the best feeling Natalie would have. It's a long-term goal, definitely not an impossible one. Wraith's mission on her search for her past will take up a long time between them, but Natalie wishes for this as well, for Wraith's sake. The older women's past will greatly help Natalie in the future, the engineer couldn't imagine herself calling Wraith "Wraith" for the rest of her life. Somewhere in those labs, Wraith's name is hidden under multiple files that has her records. Wraith will finally know who she is, and Natalie will get a glimpse of the hidden dark side of the IMC.

By the time the two finished eating, the announcement of the cafeteria opening rolled in. Wraith picked up her share of the dishes and helped Nat clean them before giving the younger women a peck on the cheek as the skirmisher made her way out the door.

"Wait!"

Wraith stopped in her tracks.

Natalie scurried over to her workbench and pulled Wraith's scarf out of a box. She jogged towards the skirmisher and offered her scarf back. Wraith took the scarf off her hands and stretched the garbage cloth out to inspect it, and the older women found stitches and a two patches on it, Nessie and a thunderbolt specifically.

"Is this why you took it? You just wanted to fix the holes?"

Natalie nodded. "It's even washed! Though some dirt wouldn't come off... it's at least clean. The Nessie and bolt patch are there because the hole was too large to stitch up so I used those... sorry if it isn't your taste, I really wanted to fix your scarf since it's so special to you."

Wraith shook her head and smiled, wrapping the newly cleaned and fixed scarf around her neck. "No no, it's alright. I love it. I didn't know you could sew, what other talents do you have up your sleeve?"

Natalie shrugged, "just a few. In other words, the important ones."

Wraith chuckled. "Well, thanks for patching it up... though it'd be hard to conceal this now... If anyone saw this, they'd definitely get some ideas..."

Natalie just stood with a sheepish smile.

"You didn't think about that, did you?"

Natalie twiddled her thumbs as she shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, I'll just tightly wrap my scarf around my neck. I'll see you later Nat."

Natalie waved Wraith a goodbye and closed her door, leaving herself to prepare for the infiltration. Crypto didn't give a given time, but he'll be sure to come later to ask them if they're ready, so it's best to prepare and not waste any precious time. Natalie knows how eager Wraith must be to uncover her past, Natalie is too, it's crucial information for the both of them. There was a sense of uneasiness, however, like if something bad was going to happen to Wraith. It's possible while walking in there that Wraith will have a chance of having a PTSD episode, it's unlikely things such as drugs and test records would be left lying around in there, but just the sight of the rooms is enough to trigger traumatizing memories for the skirmisher. Even if they get nothing out of the Facility, at least Natalie will know the hidden evil truth the IMC is hiding.

Natalie packs her tool kit and other miscellaneous necessities she thinks they'll need, she's mainly bringing tools to fix things and support for power. Nat made sure to look around her room several times before finally deciding that she's prepared. She went over to sit down on her little work desk, picking up her diary and unfolding the content. She picked off from the last time she wrote on the pages, which was her gushing about her * _chérie_ *. She even made a small goofy little doodle of the two of them at the corner, which made her chuckle. She picked up her pen and started writing away:

* _Sunday,_ *

* _Today is the day we will, hopefully, uncover Wraith's past... if not for that, we will at least know that the IMC is not to be trusted. Given the details Wraith told me about the experiments she's gone through, I didn't know they had a hidden facility where they tested on live human subjects. It is cruel, and too horrifying to believe, but I will see it with my own eyes soon. I do hope that Jacob Young isn't a part of any of this... I wouldn't know what to think if he is... I don't know how to feel about this- my life's work was to be close to my papa and be just like him... but to think the IMC is hiding this ugly truth-_ *

She stopped and held her head with her left hand, she's prepared for the worst. If Jacob is behind this, Natalie wouldn't know what to think. He worked with her father Luc for so long...

"Wait..."

Does her father know about the IMC? No, it's not possible.... is it? No.... no, if he did knew, he would immediately recognize Wraith when he first found her. And if Jacob was a part of it, he would've said something upon seeing Wraith amongst the ranks of the Apex Legends', right? Unless, they've decided to leave Wraith on the loose so they can observe her... furthering honing her skills and becoming like the weapon they aimed her to be. A weapon, or just... whatever they wanted her to be. If there's a reason for her void shifting powers, it would be to change the universe somehow, alternate or no. It could be used to do bad things in many ways Natalie wouldn't even be able to think of for a while. All she could think of is the IMC abusing Wraith's powers for their own personal gains, especially for their military purposes. No, she's thinking about this all wrong. If the IMC had ties with the Apex Games, there would be no reason for them to abandon their facility. Besides, the Syndicate are scanning out the entire layout of the facility, if they already knew about its existence, they wouldn't be scanning it out. But what do they plan to do with it? And why did they kept it from her? Natalie is the only one who can tinker the ring, if they planned on expanding King's Canyon by digging underground, and they uncovered the abandoned facility, they would've shown it to her so that she can pick areas the ring can end at for the next season. Who was she kidding, they were still keeping this from her, they must be involved in something, or under a contract with somebody, or maybe the Syndicate is plotting something. Natalie knows they have other arenas in different planets, but what if the reason they moved to Talos was for the Syndicate to secretly delve onto the abandoned facility without being interrupted?

If anybody found out about it, they'd surely get in trouble, who knows what's down there in those labs. But seeing how part of the labs are scanned out already, no doubt the Syndicate has already looted whatever they found. This will only make their mission harder, especially since there's soldiers stationed at the area, there's no way they'd let it be unsupervised. If the Syndicate has taken and broken away the things they've found on the areas they already scanned, then the group will have to walk further North if they're going to have a chance to uncover Wraith's past, which would make their plans on advancing the best route useless.

* _...if by any chance, something happens to me while I'm out on this mission... then the Syndicate is not to be trusted. To keep the Facility to themselves and look into it- I can only imagine they're trying to make use of it somehow. The data in that Facility is dangerous, they may try to replicate the steps the files they extracted hold. Although I doubt any information will be left in those labs, you may never know._ *

It would be a disappointing trip for the three of them if they end up finding nothing, however, given the thought of how much Natalie knows of how Wraith's powers work, couldn't she go onto another universe where there * _is_ * evidence of her records? Maybe it isn't that easy, there's billions and billions of alternate universes of the same timeline, each one being different. Just like how she learned back in High School, if you were to leave an insect in a box with a spider onto ten different boxes and you leave them for one day, there's a high probability that nine out of ten of those boxes has the insect get eaten. Maybe if Wraith stretches far enough, she'll find a universe where the labs aren't abandoned. But... Wraith did say that when she's in the freezing cold void long enough, it hurts her... So it really isn't as easy as Natalie thought. The thought itself of wondering these multiple possibilities gives Nat a headache, it's almost like she can grasp it but she isn't able to reach it, and that annoys her. At the end of the day, even if nothings in there, the place itself is proof enough for Nat to know that the IMC is covering up their secret sick experiments. Just the thoughts of the drills Wraith has gone through... if there's a way Natalie could use her ID to hopefully get any information on who was behind the experiments, she'd do it.

Whoever it is, whoever started it- Nat will make sure one thing: they'll pay with their life.

. . .

"When are we going?" Wraith asks, leaning against her usual spot on the wall in the lounge room.

"Patience, I'm preparing for the worst in case anything happens," Tae looks around the room in-between types. "Besides, don't stick around too long around me, we're never this close to each other."

"Aren't you being a little too paranoid?"

"No," Tae stops. "Don't look now, but we're being watched."

How could that be? If Wraith is being watched, the voices would've told her. Although they've been too quiet for a few days, normally they would've alerted her.

"Act normal, they're heading towards us," Tae goes back to typing on his keyboard.

Suddenly, there was this sense of anxiety at the pit of Wraith's stomach. Something bad was coming, maybe she was crazy, but there's no reason why the staff would come up to her otherwise.

"Excuse me," one of them says. "But we need you to come with us."

Wraith crosses her arms, lowering her tone a bit in hopes of scaring them away. "Why?"

"We can't tell you that, we just need you to come with us, it's important."

"I'm not going anywhere unless I know what it is."

The staff member backs away a little. "I'm asking you one more time, you need to come with us or I will have to call security. By not coming with us, you're resisting-"

"Resisting?" Wraith stepped closer to them, her aura becoming more noticeable and menacing. "Have I done something wrong?"

"W-we can't tell you, if you're not coming then we'll have no choice but to call security and they'll escort you away."

Wraith crosses her arms once again, bending forward with a stern look. "Then bring them."

They nodded, the trio walking back as they reach to their walkie-talkie to call for security.

* _They know._ *

Now the voices tell her something?? Know about what? Couldn't they have been a little more specific?

"Crypto-" Wraith whispered.

Tae sighed. "Fuck, they know about * _something_ *. We can't take any chances, we have to leave, * _now_ *."

"Seriously?"

"It's impossible for them to know about our plans, this must be something else," Tae packs his devices in his jacket and begins to jog upstairs, Wraith following behind.

"Wait- the Headquarters. I left a boot print- they probably want to compare my sole to the print."

"Shit, there's no way they could've gotten the results that fast. They definitely want your soles to confirm the matches. Go ahead and let Natalie know that we're leaving right now, I'm going to my dorm to grab my gadgets, meet me at the hangar," Tae goes up an extra two flights of stairs where his room was located.

Wraith pounded on Natalie's door, and once the blonde opened it, Wraith immediately grabbed her wrist. "We need to go, * _now_ *."

"Wha- wait, what's happening?"

"Can't explain now, get your stuff and meet Crypto at the dropship. I'm going to get the weapons," Wraith sped down two floors to steal weapons from the firing range, and thankfully for her, nobody was there.

As for Natalie, she grabbed her bag and her toolkit and met up to help Wraith. There was only enough space to hold a Wingman in her bag, she grabbed some extra ammo cases just in case. Meanwhile Wraith was carrying guns like a madwomen.

"You can't carry everything, you're too small. I'll be fine with a pistol, just grab a gun for you and Crypto and I'll hold the ammo in my bag," Natalie told her.

Wraith groaned, dropping all the guns but the R-99 and the R-301. She stuffed Natalie's bag to the brim and then began stuffing her own pockets.

"Now let's go, before they find us," Wraith takes Natalie's forearm and leads her out the room, but security were blocking the stairs. They were making their way up to the third floor where Wraith's dorm was located until the last guy spotted them.

"Over here!" He shouts, causing the others to turn around.

"Uhhh, * _chérie_ *?"

"I'm on it."

Wraith grabs Natalie's arms and starts running towards them.

"Wait! Why are we-"

And then her surroundings turns blue, Wraith somehow managed to get the both of them into the void, but it didn't last very long. It lasted enough for them to get past the security, and they both scrambled to run down the steps. Wraith stumbled on the last remaining stairs, Natalie reacted quickly enough to help the skirmisher up as they both pass their friends sitting at the lobby. All of them were confused on what was happening, Elliott and Makoa ran after them to ask them what the problem was, until they saw that they were being chased.

"Move out of the way! We suspect Wraith to illegally trespass and be the culprit responsible for an officer's disappearance!"

That immediately caught Anita's attention, the soldier running her way towards the hangar.

By the time both Natalie and Wraith made it inside the dropship, they realize the rear end wasn't going to close in time. Crypto had just begun to turn on the engine, Wraith had no choice but to fight a few of them off. Thankfully the flight staff weren't interfering with whatever the hell is going on.

"Wraith?" Natalie nervously backs away as they drew closer.

"Stay back, I'll handle it."

Wraith pulls out her kunai from her belt and prepares her fighting stance.

"Don't kill them!" Natalie pleaded.

Fuck. Way to make it harder.

The first security comes into the dropship and tries seizing her arms, but Wraith's jabs his stomach using the butt-end of her kunai. He spits out saliva and coughs a bit, giving Wraith an opening to punch his gut and kick him off the ship. He rolls away, clutching his stomach as he laid on the ground crooked and groaning. The second and third security came at the same time, the fourth following just a few seconds off. Wraith waited for one of them to strike, immediately bringing her leg to kick the kneecap of whoever strikes first, which was the second guy who ran up. He fell down, leaving her and the third one, but she had to be quick since the fourth was coming up. The third security reached for his taser gun attached to his belt, but Wraith takes his arm and wraps it around him, causing him to turn with her to avoid getting it twisted. His arm cracked and he groaned in pain as Wraith stole the taser from him and tased both the third and second security officers and kicked them off. The fourth officer lunges at her with the taser gun on, she barely dodged it as it whiffed by her cheek. Wraith brought her taser towards his neck but he slaps her arm away, causing her to drop the gun. He goes for her neck, but Wraith grips his arm and they both struggled in each other's hold. Wraith held him into a lock, she brought his face downward by bending down and hits him with her knee. He stumbles back and Wraith immediately takes his wrist, bringing his body towards her. Using all of her weight, she hoists his body over hers and smacks it down on the metal floor and throws him off.

Then, very abruptly, Anita slips into the dropship as it was closing.

"What?!" Wraith turns to her and blocks off a punch from the soldier. "What the?!?"

"Anita what are you doing?!" Natalie cried out.

"Doing my damn job. You're resisting arrest!" Anita takes ahold of Wraith and throws the skirmisher across the back room. Wraith rolled and picked herself up to quickly block off Anita's swings.

"You don't even know if they're right!" Wraith grunted through her bared teeth, holding off as best she could.

"I heard them clearly! You're under suspicion, and when they came to fact check, you know what you did? You ran! You're definitely involved in that soldier's disappearance!"

"Anita, please stop!" Natalie tried interfering but Anita pushed her away.

"It's time to see who's the real better fighter Wraith," Anita's muscles flexes as she tried going for flurry punches. Wraith quickly moved away and faced towards Anita, but the soldier was much quicker than she anticipated. Anita has already brought her leg up, there wasn't enough time for Wraith to block it, and her ribcage was hit again; the same spot Anita got her last time during the Games. Wraith winced and fell to her knees, Anita then held Wraith by the collar and lifted her up to strike her nose with force, causing Wraith to tumble backwards towards the wall and cusp her face in her hands. Once removed, Anita punched her again, the might was enough for Wraith's head to knock back and hit against the metal wall.

"PLEASE STOP!" Natalie once again tried stopping them but Anita twists her arm and kicks her away.

The soldier turns to face Wraith while smirking, smiling at the sight of Wraith's bloody face. "I was always better than you," she says, hitting Wraith again. "You were just-" and another, "always!" And another, "lucky!"

Wraith's head drooped downward, blood streaming down from her nose and mouth, her body slowly slumping down to the ground. Anita grabs Wraith's hair and prepares to push her head against the metal wall, but the dropship bumped through the air and the three of them tumbled inside. They tumbled and skidded back and forth until the ship finally calmed down. Anita immediately tackles Wraith when the skirmisher finally picks herself up, Wraith tried struggling but Anita held her at her neck, slowly choking her. The skirmisher had no strength to resist or fight back, she was losing it, the face of her rival was blurry and the noises drowned out.

"STOP, I BEG YOU! ANITA PLEASE!" Natalie shouted through tears, but the soldier's hold was too strong for Natalie to pull away.

Slowly, Wraith's skin tone changed from pale to a slightly blue-ish one.

"YOU'RE KILLING HER, STOP!" Natalie tried pushing the soldier off of Wraith but to no avail. She immediately ran off to find an object, but what? Her tools. Natalie sprang to her tool kit and took a wrench. She held the wrench above her head as she ran towards Anita and knocks the soldier unconscious.

Wraith groaned at the pain from her ribcage as she sat up taking a deep breath, coughing up blood that came up along the way. Natalie scooches over and hugs her, immediately regretting the action when the skirmisher groaned in pain. "* _Pardon!_ *"

Natalie was caught between laughing with joy or sobbing her eyes out. She's just glad Wraith is okay, that fight was a close call.

"...thanks Nat... ugh..." Wraith moaned and laid back down.

"No, no! Don't do that! Sit up! Lean forward!" Natalie helps Wraith sit back up again, doing so slowly to avoid hurting Wraith, the skirmisher held onto her ribcage as she whined.

"Pinch both of your nostrils and leave it like that for five to ten minutes. I'm going to ask Crypto to drop somewhere so we can leave Anita, we don't want her coming with us."

Natalie left her for a second just to ask Crypto to take a minute and land somewhere to leave Anita behind. He nodded, slowly bringing the ship down to land. He opened up the rear and Natalie takes Anita's body by wrapping an arm around her neck and carries her to the concrete. Very carefully, Natalie sets her down on the ground and goes back inside, telling Crypto that he could close it now. She didn't worry about Anita being lost or anything, her body would surely be found easily. Even if it doesn't, Anita will be fine walking back. Maybe it's a bad idea to let her go, but leaving people alive is always better than leaving them dead. She was proud of Wraith for following her plea.

"Nat please... I just want to sleep...," Wraith whispered.

"Don't lose your grip, * _idiote_ *! I know you're weak but please wait until you stop bleeding. Pinch your nose again and properly wait it out!"

"Nat," Wraith whined, pinching her nose. "It's not gonna stop, I need a doctor."

"* _Chérie_ *, just try for me please. If it doesn't stop in half an hour... I'll try to convince Crypto to take a detour."

The speakers crackled and Crypto's voice came through. "Oh no, I'm not stopping anywhere. She'll just have to endure it, I'm sorry."

And with that, Natalie sighs.

"I really need a doctor... I won't last... three days like this..."

"Crypto please," Natalie begged towards the speakers.

"...we'll stop for a brief moment, I'll find the nearest hospital right now."

For Crypto, it was a bad idea. Well, he knew Wraith's nose wouldn't stop bleeding anytime soon due to severe trauma, so stopping at a hospital is crucial, but he still thought it was a horrid idea. Of course they're going to have cameras, once Wraith steps inside, the hospital will be her last known location. The Syndicate is tracking her, soon enough they'll post her identity to the world in order to catch her. If they haven't already done that yet. No, it's too soon. Give it a few more hours and her face will be all throughout the television, newspaper, social media, etc,. Then she won't be able to go anywhere or do anything in public unless she changes her name and her appearance... much like he did. They were different however, Crypto was framed, and Wraith is speculated on a case that she did do. But they'll catch her, with the technology the world is exposed to, they'll catch her in no time if she isn't careful. Thankfully for Wraith, Crypto will try his best to keep her undercover by sabotaging anything that could be useful for the authorities. Just until they're about done with their mission, after that, the skirmisher will have to go on her own. He had his own thing after all, finding Mila, and exposing the dark secrets of the Syndicate.

"We'll be there in about 40 minutes, I'm going as fast as I can," he announced.

He looked through the monitor for a brief second, catching Natalie's smile and her bow. He smiled, somehow the small 'thank you' gesture made him... happy.

"See Wraith? There's no time to rest, keep your nose pinched!"

"I don't see how this is helping," Wraith says as she spits out blood from her mouth.

"This is common sense for nosebleeds! Now," Natalie wipes the sweat off of Wraith's forehead and fixes the skirmisher's bangs. "How did this all happen? What did you do?"

"I haven't-" Wraith sighs. "Well... didn't I tell you about it? When I infiltrated the Headquarters for Crypto to scan out the layout of King's Canyon, I got caught by a soldier by a mere rookie mistake, so I was forced to kill him. Choked him out and sent him into the void, I couldn't allow him to wake up knowing he saw my face."

"So then-"

"Wait, I'm not finished. When I got out, the rain was * _pouring_ *. The front gate was incredibly muddy, and I knew that. Except since it was raining harshly, I guess the mud grew thicker, because it pulled on my shoe and I almost fell if I didn't reacted quick enough. I lost enough time because of that and security who were patrolling the perimeter noticed me. They didn't see me or found me, but because of that damn mud, I left a boot trace. And since I own another pair of these boots, they'll definitely grab the extra in my dorm and match it up with what they extracted from the ground," Wraith shook her head.

"Ahh, yes, the computer that is scanning the sole mark will usually round up possible shoe brands, and then authorities take those brands and line it up with the evidence. I guess none of what they tested matched and you were the last guess."

Wraith arched a brow at that.

"You know what, don't think too much about it," Natalie reassured her. "I don't know too much about forensics myself."

They were silent for a couple of minutes after that, the only noise emitting from the ship being the engine and the air density. Natalie noticed a distant look in Wraith's eyes. It was difficult to tell since it was back to its usual white, but she knew they were different. Her eyes looked glassy, it reflected the lights in the ship, and her lips were slightly pursed. Wraith must've caught on that Natalie was staring from the corner of her eye, because she looked away and stared down at the ground.

"What's wrong?" Natalie took ahold of Wraith's right hand and gently rubbed her thumb on it. But Wraith could only shake her head, refusing to look at her partner's eyes. "Please, please talk to me..."

"You know," Wraith stopped to take her hand away. "If what I did was wrong, you can just say it. I know what I did isn't-"

"This again?!?"

The sudden outburst caught Wraith off-guard.

"You're questioning me despite me telling you that I'm on your side no matter what?" Natalie placed her hands on her hips. "You can sit and pout and imagine the scene over and over. You can regret it, you can be ashamed, you can hate yourself, but you can't take it back! Besides, that was a tough situation, for anyone else, they would've gotten caught or shot. You were only trying to protect yourself with your identity. At that night, you were desperate to hack into that PC, and I understand. You understand too, no?" Natalie stopped to brush Wraith's bangs off her eyes, and smiled. "That place holds all the information you need to know what your life was before, exciting, isn't it? Anybody would do whatever they could with all their strength knowing the truth is so close. I don't think any less of you for what you did, and you certainly haven't changed. I believe what you did was the right thing even if you disagree with me. Besides, the Syndicate.... if they're a shady group as well, I know you'd stop feeling guilty of your actions."

"I...," Wraith's thoughts completely halted. Those god damn adorable eyes of Nat's, and her silly smile, and that scar... "don't know what to say."

"As long as it isn't any more complaining, then we're fine," Natalie gently pulled Wraith's head forward to plant a kiss on the skirmisher's cheeks.

"Can I stop pinching my nose now?"

"No, give it a few more minutes. And not another word out of you!"

The brunette groaned at that, pinching her nose even tighter. The defender found it funny, and she lightly chuckled on the inside. Natalie could tell Wraith was annoyed, she could practically read her * _chérie's_ * mind, Wraith wants to take a nap, but if she sleeps with a nosebleed, she'll only have trouble breathing.

"I'll admit," Natalie began. "I was prepared to face some enemies going on this quest of yours, but I never imagined it'd be like this."

She was thinking of Anita, everybody knew she was a soldier who served the IMC, so it was obvious that if they were going to make enemies with the Legends, Anita would be the very first. Still, Anita was her family, she was one of the people who came by her house after all. One of the few who invited her to the Games to cheer her up... after the death of her papa. It's possible that Anita will be the only Legend who's hostile, the others don't have much of a lead other than them overhearing what the security shouted. But they're her friends, and they were Wraith's friends too, surely they wouldn't listen to the authorities without listening to either of them, right? Although with Anita around, Natalie is sure that the soldier will convince them to not trust the two of them anymore. There is hope, maybe with Elliott and Makoa... but Natalie can't risk anything, she'll have to learn to let them go.

"Actually... we wouldn't have made the Legends our enemies if it weren't for that inconvenience. What terrible timing...," Natalie sighed. "Even if you did comply, I'm sure you would've been arrested on the spot and then stand for trial on your crimes."

"Sorry."

"Ugh, don't be sorry! The universe is just being unfair to you by sending out these things on the wrong time. Given the context, you did something horrible but you're also doing nothing wrong. I know it sounds contradictory but really, you're a good guy, it's right even if it's morally wrong. I-," Natalie stopped, "I don't know what I'm trying to get at."

"Relax. Besides, how do you know I'm a good guy? Nobody knows what or who I was before my memory was wiped. I could've been a criminal for all we know," Wraith shrugged. "Would you still be at my side no matter what?"

"You can't possibly-! How can you ask that of me?"

"I'm guessing that's a no then? It's understandable." Wraith was just assuming.

Natalie scratched the back of her neck in a nervous act. "Not necessarily, I think I'd be shocked and hurt, but... you forget people can change, right? Change for the better."

"That doesn't sound easy Nat-"

"* _Chérieee_ *, that's why you can go under some classes and get the help you need to change. There's even prescriptions to take, I think those are for desperate measures though."

"Oh." Wraith didn't know that. "That sounds nice, I could use some of that."

"That's good! Also, I'd just like to point out how dense you are," Natalie giggled. "You just said changing doesn't sound easy, but you realize if you were a bad person before your memory wipe, you literally changed for the better."

"Oh ha-ha," Wraith rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"You changed a lot. At the start of the games you were so serious and looked really mean! Then you softened up while still looking scary, and gradually you became cuter. And since I know a side of you no one else does, you're actually really sweet and dorky."

"Shut up already."

Natalie snickered, "aww, am I embarrassing you? Oh come on, nobody won't think any less of you if they knew about it."

Has Wraith really become soft? She hadn't noticed. Sometimes she hung around the Legends, but it's not like Wraith interacted with them, she only stuck around at the back and listened. They didn't have much to say to her, which the skirmisher was grateful for, but that was probably because none of them could keep a conversation with her for very long. Elliott would always talk about himself after growing bored, and Marvin isn't very bright. She's always acted the same throughout the seasons, hasn't she? Natalie said that Wraith became cuter? How the hell did Wraith become cuter when all she's done is-

Oh.

Wraith did acted weird when it came to Nat, which Elliott caught on rather quickly. Wraith also tried really hard making Path happy, the robot now thinks Wraith is his big sister. It's cute, but Wraith isn't sure how long she's suppose to keep the act. And then, she admitted missing the other Legends... even if it was completely out of her character, she was being honest with them.

But now that doesn't matter, with what happened today, just now. Unfortunately Marvin will believe Anita and get upset, which breaks her heart, although she'll never admit it. Elliott... he'll question her, he's the type of guy to do that. There's no telling what he'd do if he heard Wraith's side of the story, Elliott doesn't seem like the guy to choose a side. Makoa would like context from both sides as well, although he'd either try to fix things or stay neutral. Ajay wouldn't hear a single word Wraith has to say, Octavio wouldn't care and would just mind his own business, although he'd probably bandwagon with Ajay. Blothhundr... They would either spy with Arthur to get context, mind their own business, or they'd kill Wraith on sight. Judging by what they do, Wraith is sure Bloth would just mind their own business, which is unfortunate, Wraith liked them.

"You can stop pinching your nose."

Wraith let go and blood quickly rushed out.

"On second thought," Nat said as she made Wraith pinch her own nose again. "Wait at least ten more minutes."

"This is pointless, I want to rest."

"We're getting there. Once you're patched up, you can sleep all you want." Natalie rubs the blood off of Wraith's face using her thumb, then she rubbed it off on Wraith's pants. "Must you get in trouble every day?"

"What are you on about? I haven't started a fight yesterday!"

"Heh, let me rephrase that. Must you always be beat up every week?" Natalie rested her chin on her right palm, sitting criss-cross in front of Wraith.

"You make it sound like I lose every time," Wraith huffed in annoyance.

"You're the one thinking that way. You almost died not too long ago."

"Next time, I'll be sure * _not_ * to hold back. I didn't want to hurt her, I didn't even expect Anita to try and stop me."

"What ever is to come, you're not allowed to kill anyone," Natalie turned to the camera at the upper corner. "That goes for you too, mister."

"What happens if we run into armed soldiers inside the Facility?" Wraith questions. "And they cut off our escape?"

"Then yes, you can pull a gun on them. That's an obvious life or death situation that you can't control. Gosh, I hope it doesn't come to that..." Natalie sighs.

Wraith gasped and held the back of her neck with her free hand which spooked Natalie.

"What's wrong?" Nat asks while slowly lingering closer with her arms nearing Wraith's body.

"Nothing, just... goosebumps."

"It might be the topic that's giving you chills, let's talk about something nice to pass the time," Natalie held her chin to think, then pointed upward when an idea sparked up. "Ooh! Remember when we went to that diner? Ohh, we * _have_ * to go there again, there's this dish I want to try and it looks sooo good!"

The rest of the words that came out of Natalie's mouth trailed off. Somehow, Wraith could see the blonde's mouth move, but no sound came out of it anymore. Nothing else was happening around her, everything was normal, Wraith just couldn't hear. Slowly, pressure began building up in her stomach, and she realized no matter how hard she tried to talk or move, she couldn't. The harder she tried, the more difficult it was to do so. Natalie realized Wraith was staring and waved a hand in front of her eyes, but she still couldn't wake herself from the guilty feeling of pressure in her stomach. She felt the blood on her neck rise up, and soon she felt dizzy, almost like as if her head was swelling on the inside. Suddenly her neck became cold and she couldn't breathe, Wraith could feel her blood pumping up her neck to her head, and her head kept swelling and swelling. Her vision was next, the exterior becoming darker and darker until she couldn't see anymore.

Wraith jolted off the ground gasping for air, feeling a distant pain somewhere in her ribcage.

"Ah! You're awake!" A muffled voice called out.

"Huh? M-muh?" Wraith patted around her surroundings.

"* _Chérie_ * I'm- I'm right here."

"Wha? Huh?" Wraith looked around the room and patted herself.

"Crypto! She's freaking out! I don't know what to do!" Natalie desperately cries out. "Crypto!"

That voice was somehow remote, despite Wraith, after a minute, clearly seeing Nat in front of her. She awoke like as if she entered the world in third person, or like as if she wasn't in her own body anymore. Her surroundings were there but also not, in a way. It's difficult to explain, difficult to understand, but at that moment when she was waking up, nothing felt real. Even her own body didn't feel real, if felt like a stuffed doll coming to life in a painful way... Her arms were numb, but she controlled it fine. She patted around her surroundings in confusion, and Wraith was even more confused not being able to feel anything. Her arms were coming back and her blood was cold, and it felt like a million piercing needles inside her skin, poking through her muscle mass. It felt like... a static TV, is the best she could explain the experience, before her arm felt normal again. Her face went through the same thing, her forehead was hot, and she was sweating horribly. Until her body calmed down and became normal, and Wraith was no longer confused, she was still sweating profusely.

"Natalie?!?" Wraith gasped out.

She must've ran to Crypto for help while Wraith was regaining consciousness.

"Please come back, please please....," Wraith whispered, laying sideways on the ground now. "Please," Wraith pleaded, "come back."

Faint shuffling could be heard, until Wraith saw an angel poke out from the other room. "Are you feeling any better?"

Natalie kneeled next to Wraith, and the skirmisher very weakly took ahold of Natalie's hand.

"Water," Wraith barely croacked out.

"You're lucky, Crypto went ahead and robbed some supplies while you were at the hospital."

"I didn't rob, I borrowed!" Crypto yelled from the other room.

"You definitely robbed it!" Nat shouted as she walked away to get water. "You literally stole boxes of supplies under the staff's noses and ran!"

Hospital? But they still haven't made it there, there was about another half hour to go. How long has she been out? Natalie had already left to fetch her some water before she could question what happened. Wraith hardly remembered what happened, she remembers sitting in front of Natalie...

"Here, can you drink? Come on, let's get you to sit up first," Nat pulled Wraith up against the wall by hooking onto her pits with her hands, forgetting that Wraith's ribs took a beating from Anita. Wraith winced and Nat apologized, being more careful into lifting her up. Once Wraith was settled against the wall, Nat stretched her hand out to give Wraith the water bottle. Wraith grabbed it, but lost her grip and the bottle fell down, spilling a bit. Thankfully Nat immediately grabbed it off the ground.

"I guess that was a bad idea. Open your mouth, I'll pour it for you."

Wraith obeyed, opening her mouth slightly and leaned her head back towards the wall and closed her eyes.

"* _Ne pas dormir_ *! You are not sleeping again!" Natalie snapped her fingers, "Wake up, you're scaring me!"

"What?" Wraith fluttered her eyes open.

"Look me in the eyes, stay focused. You need water, open your mouth * _idiote_ *."

"You're pretty..."

Nat giggled, "* _tu es belle toi-même_ *." She gently poured some water for Wraith, and then stopped for two seconds, repeating the process three times.

"What happened?" Wraith asked.

Natalie subconsciously rubbed the sweat off of Wraith's forehead and fixed her bangs again. "Here, let's lose this, this might help," Natalie unwrapped Wraith's scarf off the skirmisher's neck and set it aside. The sight of Wraith's neck gave her the burning desire to kiss it, but she knew she had to fight the urge.

"You stared holes right through me when I changed the topic to something nice, don't you remember? You passed out and strangely, you had a seizure. I was horrified! Because I didn't know what to do! I knew I couldn't touch you so I waited until it passed, except, it was strange. It's not like you were foaming out of your mouth, I think it must've been a convulsion or something. I wish I knew so that I could tell you but I'm not an expert at this. We took you to the hospital but Crypto advised me not to say anything about what just happened or else we would be stuck there for hours and he didn't want that... You were unconscious for two hours, I didn't want to wake you because I was afraid."

"I don't remember much of anything, I remember sitting in front of you but I can't make out what you were talking about," Wraith groaned and held her head.

"I'm not sure if sleeping will help or not, I'm afraid that you could jerk again at any minute..."

"I'm tired..." Wraith exhaled through her nose and laid against the wall.

"You are NOT sleeping again! Sit up, look at me!" Natalie gently pat Wraith's cheeks to wake her up. "* _Chérie_ *, look at me, I'm scared for your health, you've been acting weird since this morning."

"What did I do in the morning?"

Natalie sighed, "can you stand?"

The defender put an arm around Wraith and carefully helped the skirmisher stand on her feet, albeit a bit wobbly, she had the strength to walk. They moved towards the seats and Nat helped her sit down and took the seat next to Wraith.

"That spasm must've damaged your brain if you have memory loss. I hope it isn't too serious however; quick, who am I?"

Wraith stared and slightly smiled. "My girlfriend."

Natalie covered her face with her hands to hide her blushing face.

"What?" Wraith pondered. "Am I wrong?"

"No no! I just meant my full name and occupation and stuff... Your answer is still good, maybe you just don't remember much of what happened today."

"Wait a second...," Wraith stroked Natalie's cheeks.

"What?"

"I don't remember you being this beautiful."

Wraith thought that was smooth. It was the appropriate time to say that right? Right?

Two seconds has passed. Three seconds. Four. Five.

"That convulsion definitely damaged your brain, you're not acting like yourself," Natalie removed her glove and checked to see if Wraith's forehead was hot. "Are you feeling alright?"

Wraith pulled Nat's hand away and locked it into a hold. "I think I'm fine now, I don't feel weird. I just wanted to... be romantic for a second, I guess, I don't know."

"Oh! I'm so sorry! It wasn't my intention to ignore it, it just seemed out of character of you. I guess I should expect you to be more open about your feelings since we're in a relationship. Just, tell me something Wraith," Nat looked at and stared at Wraith's blue eyes that only she will ever see.

"Yes?" Wraith rubbed Natalie's hand with her thumb like the defender always did to her.

"Don't do anything you're not comfortable with, just be yourself, ok?"

"Right," saying that did embarrass her, and the feeling only worsened when Nat thought the convulsion was to blame. "....Can I sleep now."

"* _Pour l'amour de..._ *, are you sure you're feeling well?"

"Nat-"

"Listen, I just want to make sure. You gave me quite a scare when you passed out and your head started shaking! I know how much you love to push yourself and never report any problems, you don't always have to act tough."

"Look," Wraith leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Natalie's scarred cheek. "I'm fine, Nat. Nothings going to happen to me, it's probably just going to be a one-time thing. It'd be best if I got some rest."

Natalie sighs, "you're right. Then I'll leave you to rest." Nat kisses Wraith's forehead and rises off the chair, she was heading off to her own corner but Wraith pulls on her wrist, making her spin around and collapse on Wraith's lap.

"Don't leave," Wraith mumbled, their mouths hovering closer and closer.

Natalie smiles, shifting her awkward position to properly sit on Wraith's thighs. Natalie leaned in for a kiss but her mouth grazes over Wraith's lips, she looks around at each corner in anxiety. "Sorry, I just wanted to make sure we weren't being watched," she whispers, before continuing where they left off.

"I missed this," Wraith mumbled in between kisses.

Natalie had to back off just to chuckle, "I thought you were sleepy?"

Wraith grunted at that and pulled Natalie back into a kiss, which the blonde didn't mind. She smiled against the skirmisher's lips, and everytime they broke out, Natalie gave quick little pecks around Wraith's jawline.

"Okay," Natalie chortled when Wraith gave her a rain of kisses, "I think that's enough." She stands up and checks again to see if there was any way for Crypto to witness any of that, but there wasn't, which was a relief. "I'll be prepping up for when we meet our destination, go take your usual catnap."

"Alright," Wraith paid half-mind to whatever Nat just said, her head was up in the clouds, thinking why she didn't kiss Natalie more often before. Wraith swore she felt a spark everytime their lips made contact, it was addicting and it made her crave for more. If they manage to escape the Facility with or without anything in their hands, Wraith will definitely take a break to go on a date with Natalie. The documents of herself and her past is important to her, but her love for Nat ensures her good memories she knows at the moment, memories Wraith will treasure with the person who made life all the more worth it.

* _Acting all cute again with your romantic ideas..._ *

The voices might as well stopped talking entirely, they don't ever come up anymore even in moments where Wraith would've wanted them to warn her. Maybe there's something else in the works, even to herself, the carrier of these powers, Wraith really knows little to no knowledge about her abilities. She'll get the hang of them eventually, maybe even know what the IMC planned to do with it so Wraith could use it to her own advantage. It'd be cool knowing what else Wraith could mix up, but for now, she'll settle on some shut-eye.

Several hours were spent, Natalie tinkered with her tools, managed the supplies, organized their utilities, and made sure to go and spend some time to sneak some kisses with Wraith in a corner Crypto couldn't see. Wraith has done nothing but nap as usual, Natalie wasn't sure how she could sleep all day so easily. Crypto kept himself busy looking forward while also staying alert on their destination progress, which isn't much further. Night was setting in, and Natalie was beginning to get drowsy. There's no way they could tell the time by looking at the moon set up in the heavens, but Nat would have to assume it was 1AM. They left very early in the morning, which wasn't planned, none of them knew the plans would shift so quickly like this. Especially since the inconvenient event caused a chaotic ruckus no doubt the others would take out of context. It was out of their control, sooner of later the other Legends would've probably known about where they gone off to. By then, Anita would still be an obstacle, but for the others... that's something none of them will ever know.

"We're approaching our destination, prepare to get off," Crypto announced through the speakers.

Natalie rubbed her eyes and stretched, she yawned and walked over to Wraith to wake her up. "* _Ma ange_ *, get up, we made it," Nat yawned again.

"Hm?"

"We're here," Nat repeated herself. She helped Wraith off the seat and held her as they gathered their things.

"I can walk fine," Wraith reassured her, walking to the part of the ship where she woke up last time to get her scarf off the floor. She tightly wrapped the dark cloth around her neck to cover up the stitches Natalie put at the end of each sides.

"If you're feeling unwell, please let me know."

"Don't worry, I will. That's a promise," Wraith took ahold of Natalie's hand and kissed between each individual knuckle.

"We're landing," Crypto announced a little too late, as the ship violently shook. Natalie fell forward and smacked her body against Wraith and they both fell to the floor. Wraith held Nat in a protective hold as they slipped back and forth until the shipped stopped shaking. The skirmisher helped Nat up, in which the defender thanks her for the gentle protection. They gathered their things and stood by the rear as it slowly opened up. When the air set in, Wraith could smell a storm incoming, strangely, it gave her a bad omen, she couldn't tell what it was though. It was too dark to see anything beyond yet, but Wraith knew the Facility was there somewhere, and her heart was pounding from adrenaline. It wasn't excitement at work, it felt almost like fear, and a mixture of emotions she couldn't understand. All she cared about is the documents holding all the information she yearns to know, no matter what, Wraith will not relent until she gets her hands on them.

"Alright," Crypto sighed as he came out of the front. "We'll have to walk a bit to what I call entrance C. I'm going to scope out the area with my drone, we'll head on in if I don't see anybody." He sat on one of the chairs and pulled his drone out.

Wraith decided to not wait around and start walking where the drone was going. Natalie followed closely behind, and once they were at the top of the hill, Wraith spotted Crypto's drone going in circles near the entrance. She squatted behind some bushes and waited until the drone retreated with no soldiers scanned out. Since the coast was clear, she slid down the hill and ran up to the entrance. It was mostly covered up by the Earth spreading it's vines and growing out trees, mushrooms, weeds, and plants. The entrance was just a normal metal door, different than the door she came out of all those years ago... There was no handle or wheel on this one, just a ID scanner on the right side, but it wasn't on, and Wraith doesn't have an ID. Crypto and Natalie caught up from behind and Crypto scanned the ID scanner with his drone, he pulled out his projected keyboard and hacked the scanner to open the door, except the door was so old it only opened half way.

"We'll have to squeeze in, watch out for the spiders," Crypto heaved as he slid inside.

Wraith easily slithered inside while Nat needed help getting her things through. Once that was settled, Wraith took a good look at the hallway and the memories began flooding in. It was a little too dark to see even if the walls and floors were white, but it looked all the same to her, not even time changed anything. The Syndicate definitely traveled here though, and they definitely damaged some property, maybe even stole. The only difference with the layout from then to now is cracks and tears in the walls and floors, and the lack of power.

"Be on your guard, we don't know if Syndicate officers are stationed here today. The power is out, we'll have to find a way to turn it on if we ever need to. Let's go," Tae says as he leads.

They pass through a room, and there it was, the singular cell that locked up the only special inmate. Wraith's cell, unlocked and left open like it was since the chaos of the leak. And just beyond are the other inmates cells, where some of them were blessed to be free, while others were left to die. Next to her cell is the room Crypto believes is one of the lead scientists, and just in front of that is the room Wraith had had her drills. The chair in the middle of the room sent a chill down her spine, she could practically feel the needles piercing through her arms all over again.

"Is this...," Nat stops as she looks inside Wraith's cell to find a lone TV plugged in in the middle.

"My cell," Wraith finishes. "They left the TV to play nothing but static the entire time I sat here."

Natalie turns to her and holds her hand, Wraith smiles for the small comfort, it made her feel safer.

"And back there, is what I assume, are the showers?" Natalie points.

Wraith turned around and nodded, "yeah... it is."

Natalie slightly tightened her hold, "no doubt all the memories are flowing, I'm sorry. This would be too much to take in for anyone else, you're strong * _chérie_ *."

"I'll be unstoppable once all this gets out, everybody needs to know what they've done down here," Wraith had to stop to calm down, her own voice shaking even surprised her. "Only then will I know peace."

"I'll help you out whatever way I can!" Nat promised her.

Ever so cheerful, that's Natalie for you. Wraith chuckled and fell even more in love with the blonde. They stood idle as Tae unlocked the small room next to her cell and immediately came out out it.

"Do you have any idea where they have generators?" Tae said in frustration, he only grown more frustrated after Wraith shook her head. "Natalie, do you have something to give out power?"

"I brought my pylon as usual, I thought we needed it," she beamed.

"Good, all we have to do is plug it up somewhere where the power will spread," he brought the layout of the Facility out using his projector but with no luck. "Let's try in there, would that work?" He points at the small room with a glass window just behind the room where Wraith received her drills.

"I can hook it up and we can see," Nat says as she leaves Wraith behind to pry the door open, but it was locked. "Door is jammed."

Tae came by to check on it and then hacked in when the door had an ID scanner. Natalie takes the pylon off her back and sets it on the floor where it began to spin, producing electricity and power. She looked around to see if she can hook anything up to her pylon but to no avail, until she sees a box of wires in the other room, just between the chair and the glass. "* _Chérie!_ * Come over!"

Wraith had a bad feeling about this, this was almost sounding like her dream, but surely that's not going to happen, right?

"Here, take my pylon and put it in the other room. Plug it up over there and see if it powers the room up."

"Could you do me a favor and not stay in here?" If Wraith could just get Nat out of this room, maybe things will change.

"Uh? Um, sure?" She didn't question it.

Wraith takes the pylon and steps inside the consultation room, passing by the chair that scarred her life forever, the same chair that made her crazy and left ugly scars on her body. She places the pylon next to the box of wires and picks up an outlet and plugged it into the bottom of the pylon. Immediately after she plugged it, the only door in the room shut and locked itself as the power turned on. Wraith see's Tae through the long horizontal glass go inside the room next to her cell and work in there. Natalie came by and stood next to the glass Wraith was looking out from, a confused look fixated on her face.

'I-m s-t-u-c-k' is the best Wraith could do to tell her. Thankfully Natalie nodded, but instead of going to Crypto like Wraith thought, Natalie instead goes back inside the small room where the doctors and scientists took notes of her sessions. Natalie looked around and found an ID scanner just next to a computer, she pulled her own IMC ID out hoping it'd do anything, but unfortunately, it didn't. She then looked around to see what button to press to unlock the door, but they were all red, yellow, and flip switches; she was lost. Nat looked up at Wraith for help but Wraith just shrugged.

"* _Please get out of that room, please get out of that room..._ *" was all Wraith could think about at the moment.

Natalie began to press random buttons and immediately stopped when the chair pulled out some devices that didn't look appealing. She tries retracing the buttons she's already pressed to undo what she's done, but Nat accidentally pressed another wrong button and closed herself off.

"Whoops, what did I press again?" Thinking long and hard, Natalie opened up the door behind her and retracted the drug injections off the chair, but she still didn't know which button opened up Wraith's door. Natalie decided to boot up the computer, and after waiting for it to turn on, realized her IMC ID did do something. Although she didn't know the password, her ID did bring up a folder stashed in the codes. She left the room to call Crypto over, forgetting that Wraith was stuck in the consultation room. He came over and had a look at the computer, he hacked in with his drone and ripped off the files. When there was nothing else left, Crypto disassembles the computer and removes the RAM, ROM, and any important circuits. He motioned Natalie to follow him, Wraith guessed it was for her to use her ID on the other computer in the lead scientist's room.

She stepped away from the glass as they were busy, looking around for any incoming soldiers, but there were none. She stood in front of the chair, the same damn chair that made her frail, and timid. She hated the thought of it all, the look in the doctor's faces as they injected a shot in her. Wraith looked back at the other two, they were still inside the room, she took a minute to roll up her sleeves and take a look at the scars some injections left. How ugly were the permanent rashes and bruises were, it made her sick. Worst of all, Wraith can recall remembering the side effects some of them gave, she could practically feel it at the moment if she thinks about it. No doubt they were meant for poisons, Wraith would be sick for weeks on the worst injections. And even if she doesn't sound lucky to be living in that hell, the other inmates had it worse, they actually received potents that were deadly. All because of her, they tested the effects on her, before making it more lethal and testing it on the others. People will say that Wraith got lucky, when in truth she's just lucky to be alive, all because she was special to them, special in a possessive way. Back then, Wraith couldn't tell, but looking back today, she knew, in those evil eyes of those scientists, they wanted to do more. She could almost speak from experience, when one of them tried having their way with her one night, thankfully an officer came over and kicked him out. Next day after that, when Wraith was being dragged to the consultation room for the next round of drills, she saw him through the glass. To everyone, he was excited for the results, but to Wraith, he was grinning creepily for his sexual desires. This chair didn't scar Wraith mentally, but also physically and emotionally.

Even if her memories of the chair were bad enough, it didn't compare to the showers. It was normal for the two men who came to drag her into the showers to grope her whenever they wanted. It's not like Wraith could've slapped them away, she tried that one time and one of them almost choked her unconscious as he roamed his other hand around, reminding her of her place. It got uncomfortable whenever their hand came close to her genitalia, she never let them, which made them angry. They beat her in the showers and used her body to relieve their frustrations by grinding for a few moments. It was disgusting, she wanted to cry when something hard rubbed against her. They really thought Wraith was all theirs. They didn't stop that scientist from raping her that night, they stopped him because they were possessive of Wraith. The two men had an advantage of their jobs, they get to do whatever they wanted to her when others weren't looking. It was because of them that Wraith was afraid of other people, men especially. That's why it's so important for her to do something about it, that day when she was on a date with Natalie, and Natalie told her that things like that were * _normal_ *... Wraith just snapped, she knew it was normal, after escaping the Facility and living years with other people until the Arena opened, Wraith realized it was common for men to sexually assault women. She lived through experiences, she witnessed it from other women, and when it happened to the person who's most important to her, Wraith just lashed out. That day, she didn't even realize the bottled up anger she stored over the years. That anger pulsed her entire power and made her stronger, all to protect Natalie.

* _Why do you insist in reminding yourself the pain..._ *

The pain finds a way to resurface and remind her of what's happened, as much as Wraith didn't want to think about it, it was hard not to. She shakes her head and looks away, pulling her sleeve back down and waiting around for Tae to unlock the door. Wraith knocks on the glass to catch Natalie's attention, and the defender remembers Wraith was still locked in a room. Tae dashes past her as he shoves components in his pocket, no doubt he's leaving to find any more computers laying about. Natalie skipped back in the observers room and reassured Wraith with a thumbs up. She pressed a button thinking hoping it would unlock the door, but instead the lights turn off.

"Okay, that one's the lights... it only turned one of them off, so these other four must be the lights too. If you were to enter a room, lights comes after you walk in, thereforeeee...," Natalie presses a red button just above the very first light button, and sure enough, the door opens up. "I did it!"

Wraith sighs in relief, maybe this isn't turning out like her dream after all. She walks towards the exit but the door suddenly shuts itself in front of her. "What the-!? Nat?" Wraith looks back at Natalie through the glass.

"I- I didn't do anything!" Nat presses the button again and the door opens, but then it immediately shuts itself. Then the door behind Natalie closes itself too, which startled her. "Maybe there's a malfunction? Unless Crypto is messing around."

Wraith was panicking, she looked through the retangular glass on each side of the room for any incoming soldiers. There's no reason for Tae to shut them in as a joke, someone else must be at work here, right? "Keep pressing the button!"

"I am! It's not working! Maybe it's jammed?" Natalie gave it a moment before pressing it again, but nothing happened. She pulls out her ID again and scans it, but it didn't do anything either. After at least half a minute spent on trying to open either doors, the door behind Natalie opened up, and instead of expecting to see Crypto, Nat met with a familiar face.

"Of all people, I never really expected you to find this place," the man tsk-tsked.

"You're...," Natalie stopped, and chuckled. "I had a feeling you were somehow connected...," she looked at the armed soldiers beside him. "There's no reason why you'd bring your men here unless you plan on killing me. I must say that I am greatly disappointed in you. What is the meaning of all this?"

"That," he breathes. "Is none of your concern, you weren't suppose to find this place. We have made a grand discovery, and I have no intention to let any of you escape here alive. We can't let the public know of this, and... * _you_ *," the man points at Wraith. "This women is highly dangerous, and she's wanted!"

"How dare you!" Natalie pushes him and the armed men pushes her away and points their guns at her.

"STOP!" Wraith shouted and pounded at the glass.

The man shakes his head, "shoot her, and kill the other one too."

"But sir-" the man takes the pistol off the hesitant soldier's holster and shoots him before shooting Natalie in the head. Her body froze before slowly falling back, her head hit against the glass and her body slipped downward. Blood scattered everywhere, more so on the glass. The bullet passed through her head and damaged the glass enough to crack majority of it that Wraith couldn't see anymore.

"NATALIE!!" Wraith cried out, but it was all too late. She could've prevented this, she should've been the one to be in that room, she should've been the one to take the bullet. None of this wouldn't have happened if she just didn't get close to Natalie at all, if she just didn't tell Natalie about the IMC, if she had left Natalie behind in the ship.

"Round her up! Don't let her escape!"

She watched as armed soldiers began filling up both sides of the hallway towards her only exit, which was still locked.

"GET OUT OF THERE," Tae announced through the speakers as the door opened.

Wraith didn't want to leave Natalie behind, but she had no choice, she ran out as fast as she could. She ran towards the showers and was stuck inside a decontamination room for a few seconds. As she got sprayed, the doors opened up and she kept running, seeing the soldiers having to go through decontamination too. Wraith went for the exit closest to her, and as she turned the corner, soldiers were already bustling through. Miraculously, she dodged the bullets and ran for the next exit, but the hallway was blocked off and she had to go through another route. She opened up a double door and stopped in her tracks when a large hole was in front of her, even if she ran and jumped, Wraith couldn't make it. There's no other choice, she had to jump down- soldiers were already running up behind her. Wraith braced herself and jumped down a floor, landing on her side, mainly her right arm, she cursed when the shock of the impact and the pressure hit her. Pain only increased as she tried getting up, and as soon as she was finally up, Wraith realized her arm was bent weirdly. She could hardly feel it, it was painful as hell but her arm felt buzzy.

"Fuck my luck..." Wraith groaned, wiping away the tears. "You get Natalie killed, you break your arm... now all that's left is for you to get killed off too..."

Flash of lights waved around behind her, the soldiers were all a floor above her now. Wraith can't stop yet, she has to make it out alive in order to avenge Natalie. She pushes forward, running for her life to the next nearest exit, but the door was locked.

"Come on!" Wraith kicks the door in frustration, wiping her tears away again. She saw soldiers rushing downstairs through the glass just across the room, this was it. She held the R-99 with her left hand, pointing at the door they were coming from, her index finger ready to pull the trigger.

"We're getting out of here alive!" Tae shouts as he opens the locked door from the other side and drags Wraith beside him before locking it. "Come on, we can escaped through this exit!"

Wraith followed behind him; they turned a corner and soldiers were shouting and and spraying bullets at their backs. They zig-zagged behind objects to objects, slowly making their way to the exit, until a lucky bullet hit Wraith straight on her right shoulder. The R-99 rattled on the floor as she fell and rolled forward, scooting behind some metal cargo and clenching her teeth as she held her scream in.

"Shit! Are you okay?! I'm going to flash them with my bot, they should be blind for about ten minutes, but it will only work on those who's close enough. Once I do it, we run for our lives!"

Wraith nodded, holding onto her shoulder to at least lessen the bleeding. Tae takes control of his drone and moves to flash the nearest men, Wraith gets up to open the door that leads them outside but she lacked the strength to. Tae comes behind her and helps her, both of them sprawling out and almost losing balance. They eluded past shots and slightly seperated off each other, the Syndicate soldiers lost them because of the rain making things harder to see in the night. The two of them didn't stop running until the wave of flashlights disappeared, and even then, they still kept on running. The ship was on the other side of the Facility, they didn't move out as Tae planned, much to their dismay.

It was pouring harshly, the dark clouds in the dead of night shining only for a moment as a faint crackle could be heard in the distance. They ran inside a small cave, sheltering themselves from the rain and the chase. Tae sat down to catch his breath, he looked over at Wraith, who stood at the entrance. Her left fist was clenched tight, Tae could see the slight shake of her body and he knew it wasn't because she was cold. He looked out to the dark world of Solace, looking out to see any flashlights in the distance. But there was none to be seen, not yet anyways, he knew they were still on their trail however. He calms his breathing first, before looking up at Wraith again. Wraith's wet bangs made it hard for him to see her face, but he already knew what she was feeling.

"This isn't...," he let out a breath, hesitating. He held back, not knowing what to say. He was hurt too, but it couldn't compare to what Wraith is feeling now. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. It's my fault, I planned things horribly."

Wraith shook her head, her bangs sticking to her face as she moved further away from Tae. "It's not your fault, it's mine."

Silence. What could he say right now? They were both feeling the same thing. It was a difficult night, things didn't go as planned and they got caught. Soldiers chased them out with bullets whiffing by the two, they were lucky to still be alive. Fortunately for them, the rain made them even harder to target, and the dark helped them escape and gain some distance. They didn't get any intel, the data Tae wants to desperately collect, the past Wraith wanted to uncover so badly. It would have to wait... but when were they going back? The Facility will surely barricade it's entrances and put up even more soldiers, and what's more... what had happened in there...

"It'll be harder to get inside next time now that they're on alert. What will you do now?"

"Find the lead scientist, I want to know who's in charge of my project..." Wraith croaked, still staring out into the distance.

Tae nodded, looking forward again. "Then what?"

"Kill every last one of them!" Wraith yelled in a raspy voice.

Tae nodded again, understanding her feelings. It was more than revenge, more than avenge, it was justice. And while the world will view it as a brutal massacre, if they knew the full context, it would be counted as justice. It wouldn't be in retaliation, and it wouldn't be counted as self-defense. The actions Wraith wanted to do would be counted under righteousness. Natalie would surely hate to see her this way, she would hate to see what Wraith will become. But the defender has no say in it, no one does, nothing will change Wraith now.

"This is the dark side that I wish to uncover and spread. This is the truth about them."

"Wait," Wraith turned to him, her eyes were red indicating that she was crying before. "You already knew this?"

Tae stood up and waved his hands at her. "No, no! It isn't like that! I just had my suspicions.... but now they confirmed it. I had a similar situation happen to me... I lost too."

"Sorry," Wraith mumbled, looking away now.

"Don't be, we both have the same path. They showed their true side, so now I don't have to hold back anymore. I might end up killing everyone as well," Tae sighed, nearing closer to the entrance, he turned to Wraith, who was crying again. "The same path, but one which we will have to seperate. If you're serious about taking the IMC out... I'll help you out one last time."

"Thank you.."

Tae smirked, putting his hand on Wraith's back for comfort. "They know about us, we can't go back. We'll have to stick together now."

Wraith wiped her tears away, she stared down at her feet as Tae's hand slid off from her back.

"I've made modifications on my own body, I can make a bodysuit for you. It'll take months to create, maybe even a year, but the wait will be worth it. You can't go in there to kill the IMC with your clothing, you'll die."

"I'll just phase in and out, nothing difficult."

Tae shook his head at her. "We both know you can't protect yourself with your powers alone. You've still yet to master it."

Wraith let out a breath, he was right, she would die before she could uncover the lead of her project. She could only phase every twenty seconds, running through the void for a short moment. It wasn't enough time to get away, and it wasn't long enough for Wraith to be safe either. Creating a portal only lasted a minute, recharging took three minutes, and the portal has a limit of one-hundred meters. Well, that's as far Wraith could go anyways, any longer than that and she'll be in pain.

"Don't worry, we'll get them. We will make them ** **pay** **," Tae scrunched his eyebrows, his eyes glowing and glaring.

Wraith sensed his anger, it was undeniable. They both put up and suffered differently, but they ended up walking the same path. The same path, but different targets. Wraith's case was more difficult, and much more worse than Tae. At least Tae had some hope for himself and his foster sister, Mila, but he knew she wasn't just kidnapped. He knew she was alive, he just can't confirm that yet until he gets closer to the Syndicate. Meanwhile, Wraith would have to face every department of the IMC, and no doubt Anita Williams will be her obstacle once the soldier hears the news of tonight's event.

"They didn't hesitate, despite the status. They were in the same * _group_ *, and yet...," Wraith grit her teeth. "I will get him! I swear it!"

"I know him. He's the leader of the Syndicate, Jacob Young. He worked alongside Luc Paquette in creating the ring. They built the Apex Games together."

Wraith shook her head, walking out into the rain knowing that fact.

"Wraith?" Tae watched as Wraith stood out in the rain, looking up at the sky with her eyes closed. But he knew, he knew to leave her alone, she needed the moment. Now that they weren't being chased anymore, Wraith could properly grief. The moment replayed over and over in his head, he couldn't help but let a tear fall. Tae was sure he moved on from emotions, leaving them all behind to get stronger, but it looks like he hasn't left them behind after all. Their connection wasn't that strong, Tae never wanted to be close in the first place, but he never realized how much of an impact it did to him after what happened.

It would be difficult to move on and forget, even for him. He didn't get to witness it in front of him, but he saw it through the cameras. It was gruesome, merciless, horrible. A very clean shot at that, too. He could only imagine what they've done to Mila, but he tried not to delve into that. For now, Tae just sat at the end of the cave, leaning against the rock. He looked up at Wraith once again, who was still looking up at the dark, rainy sky. Light emitted through the clouds, lighting up the world. Lightning crepitated even louder now, the skirmisher not giving a damn at the ear-popping volume. She suffered there, alone in the rain, relieving out her depression. Soon, one day, anger will take its place of her sorrows. Her fury, her wrath, her resentment for the IMC... they wouldn't see it coming. None of them will; the scientists, the soldiers, not even Amer Singh.... This was the new beginning for vengeful Wraith, the Wraith who will really come out to kill everyone who did her wrong, who made her suffer. The defender, Natalie Paquette, would hate to see her this way. And Tae knew that, and he knew that Wraith knew that, but seeing how things turned out this way... Natalie will have to endure the disappointment. Because not even the ray of light will convince Wraith to reconsider.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Would not be surprised if I ghost this story again. No promises ✌ y'all gay, love y'all ❤
> 
> (Edit 2: Ok just in case someone doesn't get it, this is Voidwalker Wraith rn. Our Wraith comes later. I am so excited to write about Voidwalker Wraith cuz jeeeeeez she is going to be an absolute nutcase going ham on revenge. Imma make y'all cry and hate me, im- imma do it stg)


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